Bill Allen remembers the honor guard handing his mother the folded flag from his father’s casket.
“I’ve never forgotten that moment, and what it meant to me and my mother,” said Allen.
Allen returns the honor bestowed on his late father, serving as a member of the combined honor guard of American Legion Post 341 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9063 in Bella Vista.
There are only three honor guards serving Benton and Washington counties. In addition to the Bella Vista unit, there are honor guards from the Rogers American Legion and Rogers Veterans of Foreign Wars post. The three units attend scores of funerals honoring former military members; they serve at citizenship services and they present programs at area schools.
At A Glance
Memorial Day
• The Bella Vista combined honor guard will be at the Bella Vista Cemetery for a program honoring veterans. This is the 27th year the Bella Vista honor guard has participated in the event. The program begins at 10 a.m.
• The Rogers American Legion honor guard will participate in a memorial service at the Rogers Cemetery at Eighth and Cypress streets. The program is scheduled for 10 a.m.
• The Rogers Veterans of Foreign Wars will participate in a memorial service beginning at 10 a.m. at the National Cemetery in Fayetteville.
Source: Staff Report
If an active military member dies, the color guard comes from that person’s service branch.
Members of the local honor guards are volunteers. They give their time, buy their uniforms, hats and shoes. They pay travel expenses. It may be costly, but it’s worth it, members agreed.
“Sometimes, the family will offer us an honorarium of $20 or so. We will accept honorariums, but we never ask for it. We do what we do to honor the military member and his or her family,” said Forrest Strickler, a World War II veteran who fought in the Battle of the Bulge and a member of the Bella Vista honor guard.
“We do it to honor the former military man or woman, no matter what branch of service they served in. They deserve the honor,” said Lou Simmons, who served in the Navy and is a member of the Rogers VFW post.
“Sometimes there are more of us, (honor guard members), than there are family members, and that’s sad,” said David Birmingham, a retired Army master sergeant and member of the same Rogers post.
Birmingham is an original member of the Rogers VFW honor guard.
There is a bond between those who served in military, the veterans said.
“If you haven’t been in the military, you don’t know the feeling. When you take the oath to defend your country against all enemies, foreign and domestic, you take that oath for life. It doesn’t end when you leave the military,” said Tim Hull, a Navy petty officer scheduled to retire in a few weeks. Hull is a member of the Bella Vista honor guard.
The three honor guards basically perform the same memorial routine at a funeral.
Fast Facts
Taps History
There is more than one story regarding the origin of taps. Most historians agree taps was first played during the Civil War after seven bloody days of battle in July 1862. Union Gen. Daniel Adams Butterfield is often given credit for writing the 24 notes of taps with bugler Oliver Wilcox Norton helping refine the tune. Some historians say taps was played at the end of battles during the Civil War so each side would know that fighting was over for the day and the wounded and dead could be removed from the battlefield. The U.S. Army officially accepted taps in 1874 and it became a standard at military funeral ceremonies in 1891.
Source: Staff Report
Members stand at attention during the closing section of the funeral, said Mike Ford, commander of the Rogers VFW guard.
“At the conclusion of the sermon, at the command of the noncommissioned officer in charge, the riflemen raise the rifles to their shoulder and fire in unison three times and taps is played. The flag over the coffin is folded in the traditional three-cornered hat and is given to family member with both hands. The guard member presenting the flag gives a slow salute to the family,” Ford said.
Guard members also give the family three shell casings from the gun salute, if requested, unit commanders said.
No matter how many times they honor a veteran, the ceremony can impact them personally, guard members said.
“People will tell you stories about the family or the veteran and thank you for being there after a funeral service. I remember one young man coming up to me and saying ‘Thank you for what you did for my papa.’ That kind of gets to you and you remember why you are in the honor guard,” Birmingham said.
Nancy Williams, a retired Navy commander and a member of the Bella Vista guard, said there’s another reason she participates.
“I will want an honor guard when I’m gone. I honor veterans now so I can have the same honor later,” Williams said.