On Behalf of a Grateful Nation

Blue Eagles Honor Guard (USAF) 

I’ve never been able to view military honors unemotionally.

•   A United States flag drapes the casket of deceased veterans to honor the memory of their service to America. The flag is placed so that the blue field with stars is at the head and over the left shoulder of the deceased.
  

The folding of the flag, held above the casket; the three volleys of gunfire; and the sound of taps barely piercing the emotional fog of grief, these touch my heart. 

• After Taps has been played, the flag is carefully folded into the symbolic tri-cornered shape. A properly proportioned flag will fold 13 times on the triangles, representing the 13 original colonies. The folded flag is emblematic of the tri-cornered hat worn by the Patriots of the American Revolution. When folded, no red or white stripe is to be evident, leaving only the blue field with stars.
   
  Presentation of the Flag to Next of Kin 

  But when the ranking officer or NCO kneels before the wife or sibling, I strain to hear their words. 

  • The folded flag is then presented as a keepsake to the next of kin or an appropriate family member. Each branch of the Armed Forces uses its own wording for the presentation.
    Depending on the branch of service, the words run something like this:  “On behalf of the President of the United States, the Department of the Air Force, and a grateful nation, we offer this flag for the faithful and dedicated service of (Service Member’s rank and name).”I try to imagine, if even for a brief moment, what sacrifices were made in that person’s life that took them to places like Guadacanal, Palermo, the skies over Berlin, Inchon, Pork Chop Hill, the Mekong Delta, Saigon, Kuwait or Bagdhad.  How often did he smell the cordite  napalm in the air and long for the arms of home and, yet, push on and fulfill his duty as a part of the United States military?  “In harms way” is no idle phrase.  It carries in it all the potential for harm and death fromValley Forge to Fallujah and Bunker Hill to Basra.