My father recently passed away. He was a lifer in the army. He served in both the Korean and Vietnam war. He survived the chosen reservoir (I think that's how it's spelled, if not, I spelled it phonically), and the Tset offensive. He was exposed to agent orange and developed type 2 diabetes from it. At his funeral for an honor burial, all he got was 2 soldiers presenting the flag and a recording of Taps. I know that we are involved in 2 separate wars right now, and the soldiers did a good job, but come on. There has to be enough military still inland to be able to give at least vets of foreign wars proper honor burials. I believe that after a person has given a major part of their life and fought 2 foreign wars, they deserve a proper salute. My dad told me to make sure that he got the 21 gun salute as well as presentation of the flag. It meant alot to him.

I hope that by posting this, everyone who reads this will write to their respective representatives and senators and voice concern for this, so other families will not suffer the same disappointment and anger at the denial of this the last right of a veteran of our United States Military.

im sorry to hear that...

I remember reading an article about that a few months ago, saying how a large concern had been not being able to properly salute the vets...

Is there any way to get a post fact ceremony, when this mess is over?

I don't know. It's something that I will have to look into. But I still think that we should make a fuss about this. It just isn't right. Maybe if enough of us write and complain, just maybe, something will be done to correct this issue.

im sorry to hear about your father. : ( my own father had become gravely ill over the past few months and i was in charge of planning out his funeral.

my father is a viet nam vet, serving three tours and exposed to agent orange as well. while discussing arrangements for funeral i was told my father would receive the 21 gun salute (he lives in arizona), a flag, and a recording of taps. when my mother asked why he would have only the recording we were told that this was to ensure that everyone had the same playing of taps due to scale of talent.

i dont know that it really made sense but we didnt feel as though we had any choise.

Originally posted by seekerofvisions
we were told that this was to ensure that everyone had the same playing of taps due to scale of talent.

That just doesn't sound right. Taps isn't exactly a complex musical piece. I bet I could do it with an hour's training.

Originally posted by Betty


That just doesn't sound right. Taps isn't exactly a complex musical piece. I bet I could do it with an hour's training. YOu'd think so, but I've heard it absolutely butchered before.

My grandfather served SIX tours in Korea/Viet Nam. He decided to not be buried in a military cemetary because it's an hour or two away, so he bought a plot in a cemetary behind his house when grandma died. I'd be pissed if when he passed away he didn't get the respect he deserves for being a career soldier.

A few quick comments - Most people don't get a 21 gun salute. That's actually reserved for the Presidents and very senior officers. Unless the person left the military with several stars on their shoulders they will only get a 7 gun salute at most.

But on to the bigger item - these funerals are attended to by military honor guards and there is usually one honor guard team per military installation and it consists of 15-20 people and each service is supposed to "take care of their own".

With base closings there are huge areas of the country where there are no active duty bases remaining to supply honor guard teams. There is exactly one remaining active duty Air Force installation no remaining Army installations in all of New England for example. If an Army Vet dies in Maine a team is dispatched on a bus from PA to cover the funeral. That's 6 or 7 people dispatched for two days (to get there and back) to cover one funeral.

The problem isn't minor or easy to reslove. Some 1,800 veterans die every single day so the teams that do exist run around their areas from funeral to funeral. In a lot of areas they've tried to get the National Guard to provide teams but those people are usually only on duty one weekend a month. It's hard to convince them to quit their jobs and attend to funerals every day.

Next time you hear about another round of base closures remember that this is one of the impacts of them.

My grandfather was a WWII vet -- at Pearl Harbor the day it was bombed. When he passed away a few years ago I think he got a seven gun salute. It was really nice, but kind of sad because the guys doing the salute were really old vets themselves, some of them were my grandfather's contemporaries.

Maybe that's something you can look into. Have you though about contacting the local VFW chapter and asking them to do a seven gun salute? I know it's after the fact now, but I think it's the thought that counts.

My grandpa is a WWII vet and said that he doesn't want a military burial because it would be too hard on the rest of the family, emotions wise.