military honors at funerals

[LoveTrains]

Hi - I'm visiting from another board. I went to the funeral for H's grandfather yesterday and was very impressed at the lovely service provided by two folks from the Armed Services at the burial. There was a young woman who played the bugle, then the two of them folded the flag and presented it to my H's uncle. H's grandfather was in WWII. 

Is this standard for all veterans? It was very nice! I always forget that he was in the military because he only served during wartime (was not a career for him). 

I was also curious about the two soldiers who came to provide the honors. One was a woman - as I mentioned she played the bugle - and she seemed very young. The other was male. Do these soldiers have other types of ceremonial roles or do they have other jobs in the military? 

Anyway, it was a really nice touch for the service and I know it meant a lot to the family. I don't have a lot (or any, really) experience with the military. 

[meltoine]

Yes it's available to all veterans who have been honorably discharged.

They are members of the Honor Guard. Sometimes, depending how far the cemetery is from a base, they will dispatch an Honor Guard from the nearest university with an ROTC unit, in which case it's not their full time job. But there is a full-time Honor Guard at every base.

[LoveTrains]

Jan 13, 2015 18:56:16 GMT -5 meltoine said:

Yes it's available to all veterans who have been honorably discharged.

They are members of the Honor Guard. Sometimes, depending how far the cemetery is from a base, they will dispatch an Honor Guard from the nearest university with an ROTC unit, in which case it's not their full time job. But there is a full-time Honor Guard at every base.

Oh, maybe it was from a university, which explains why this woman looked so young. 

It was just outside of NYC in Westchester County. 

[meltoine]

Jan 13, 2015 19:23:07 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Jan 13, 2015 18:56:16 GMT -5 meltoine said:

Yes it's available to all veterans who have been honorably discharged.

They are members of the Honor Guard. Sometimes, depending how far the cemetery is from a base, they will dispatch an Honor Guard from the nearest university with an ROTC unit, in which case it's not their full time job. But there is a full-time Honor Guard at every base.

Oh, maybe it was from a university, which explains why this woman looked so young. 

It was just outside of NYC in Westchester County. 

It was likely an ROTC unit then. We requested the Honor Guard for our wedding in Peekskill (also Westchester, not sure if you're from there/know the area) and they scheduled the Air Force ROTC unit from Manhattan College for us. 

[LoveTrains]

I'm not from the area (I live in New England) but the funeral was in Briarcliff Manor and I think the cemetary was in Hawthorne.

[meltoine]

Jan 13, 2015 21:27:06 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

I'm not from the area (I live in New England) but the funeral was in Briarcliff Manor and I think the cemetary was in Hawthorne.

Small world. Probably the same cemetery my dad is buried in. 

[Dory1988]

We have an honor guard at our command. There are three that I know of in our area. 2 active duty and one from a reserve unit. I'm a member of the one at our command but it's a collateral duty, ie. It's not the only thing I do. My primary duty is as a Corpsman. Anyway, some of our honor guard members are brand new to the Navy and fresh out of high school. We also do retirements, balls, command colors, and we have a drill team as well. The females will do a service for women's history month. We do a lot. That's typical for an honor guard. There are secrets to the bugle...