Arlington Cemetery



I buried my dad yesterday.

He lived till 100 years of age, died in April, and was buried Tuesday, August 25, 2015, at Arlington cemetery, receiving full military honors.  That’s right.  We’ve fought so many wars, that there is now a 4 month backlog at Arlington.  One must wait in line to receive the honor.  

My father, a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division, the “Screaming Eagles,” served in the army during WWII, jumping at Normandy (D-Day), France, and Eindhoven-Veghel (Market Garden), Netherlands.  It was at Veghel, shrapnel from a mortar caught him in the head.  He wasn’t expected to live, but did, living another 60-plus years, until April 17 of this year.

The ceremony is beautiful.  The honor guard walks the casket out of the chapel down the walk onto the caisson. The guard walks beside the caisson, as four white horses pull it along the path to the gravesite (a 1.7 mile walk).  As the funeral procession proceeds down the path, the military band walks in front of the horses playing military songs, while family and friends walk behind it.  A solo boot hangs in reverse from one horse’s stirrup, signifying a fallen soldier. 

The casket is laid next to the grave then the final part of the honor ceremony begins.  First the rifle volley, then Taps played by the bugler, followed by the folding of the flag and presentation to next of kin.  That’s the ceremony, very dignified and solemn.

There was a nice addendum to the ceremony.  Surviving members of the Screaming Eagles (101st Airborne) collected the shell casings from the rifle volley and presented them to next of kin too.  A very thoughtful gesture, a memento to treasure.  

 Some of my dad's students and football players from as far back as the 1950’s attended.  

The Washington Post was present and wrote a nice article about my father and the ceremony in the Wednesday, August 26, 2015, edition of the paper.

You can read it here:


Comments

  1. AnonymousAugust 28, 2015 at 11:35 PM

    I was looking for you in the picture but did not see you. Are you in the picture?

    ReplyDelete

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