Honor guard members pay tribute to fellow veterans
By KATE SCHOTT kschott@daily-chronicle.com
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| Honor guard member Wes Lundsberg puts on a pair of white gloves before a service Thursday at the St. Mary Cemetery in DeKalb. (Rob Winner – rwinner@daily-chronicle.com) |
DeKALB – It’s not just a duty, but an honor.
That’s the way members of the DeKalb Honor Guard feel about the duties they perform during funerals of local veterans.
“It’s a privilege to be able to pay tribute to a veteran who has passed away,” said Randy Smith, a DeKalb resident who was in the Army’s military police in 1970-71 stationed in Okinawa. “We try to do it with dignity and honor and show respect to the deceased.”
Every veteran is federally entitled to an honor guard detail, and veterans from any military branch can receive military honors at their funeral. There were about 23.2 million veterans in the United States in 2008, according to the Census Bureau, and 9.2 million of them were older than 65.
The DeKalb Honor Guard consists of local men and women with military experience who provide duties, at the family’s request, to any veteran who dies.
Smith, for instance, joined about two years ago. Since he was self-employed, he could get away during the workweek. And he thought of how important the honor guard was at the funeral of his own father, a World War II veteran.
Ideally, the guard will have at least 18 members, said honor guard coordinator Dan Gallagher, or enough people to perform a seven-gun salute, at least three to hold flags and someone playing the bugle, with another person giving commands. They also fold the flag draped over the coffin, and present it to a family member of the deceased.
Guard members are given commands learned in boot camp, and the guard always does a quick run-through before each funeral. They can do as many as four funerals in one week and then go weeks before being called to another one. Anyone with military experience can help, Gallagher said.
Jerry Kempson, who lives just south of DeKalb and was in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division from 1957-1959, said he joined about a year ago because he thought he could help out. The guard has taken measures to consistently improve its performance, he said, such as coordinating uniforms more.
“We want it to look good for the family,” he said.
The ceremony can get emotional, Smith said, even if they haven’t met the person they are paying tribute to. He recalled one funeral where the flag was presented to a boy younger than 10, who was receiving the flag for his father.
“It’s a very emotional thing,” agreed DeKalb resident Steve Marberry, who was in the Army’s military police from 1971-72. “It’s the last tribute to a veteran. It’s very important. It shows the family that the rest of the country, especially the veterans, still care.”
The group has gone as far north as Belvidere, and has done several funerals in the southern part of the county, Marberry said.
“It’s a good thing,” Kempson said. “I feel that I am doing the veteran and his family a good service. I think they deserve it. We are honoring them in the best way we can. … It’s an honor to honor the passed-away veteran.”
Get Involved
Anyone interested in joining the DeKalb Honor Guard can contact coordinator Dan Gallagher at dano157804@aol.com or can call the DeKalb American Legion Post 66 at 815-756-4551 or the DeKalb VFW Post 2287 at 815-758-1990 and leave a message for Gallagher.
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