Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Leticia Samuels | Soldiers in the Military Funeral Honors Program in the North Carolina National Guard...... read more read more
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SALISBURY, N.C. – In the public’s eye receiving a Medal of Honor is considered a high honor, but in the North Carolina National Guard, rendering Military Funeral Honors to our veterans is one of the highest honors the Guard is involved in, especially at the Salisbury National Cemetery.
“We are fortunate, we have a team that is pretty well trained. Today we did a six soldier fold, that is the most difficult part, pall bearing, and the firing party,” said Army Warrant Officer Michael Huffstetler, funeral honors team officer in charge.
This service is one of thousands that the Military Funeral Honors program provides to military service members, active and retired alike, who live in North Carolina. This honorable service comes at no monetary cost to the families and provides two to nine member teams who perform services ranging from flag folding and presentation to firing parties as a final tribute. The section smartly performs these services that create immeasurable memories of their loved one for generations.
“When we fold that flag, that flag is the last thing that they are going to have,” said Huffstetler. “It means a lot when we’re able to fold that flag and give them that last memory.”
The N.C. MFH provides numerous services to families; the most common being a full military honors service given to an honorably serving veteran for completing a full 20-years or more of military service.
“A retiree, a 20-year retirement or a medical retirement, an individual that is killed in action, a Medal of Honor recipient; all honorable veterans are entitled, under federal regulation, full military honors,” said Sgt. Brett Miller, Military Funeral Honors detail leader and live bugler.
The custom of laying the stars of the United States flag over the left shoulder of the deceased began in the Napoleonic Wars in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when a flag was used to cover the dead as they were taken from the battlefield on a caisson.
A unique quality that the N.C. MFH has is the sole bugle player who plays the somber melody of ‘Taps,’ to signify a final farewell to a military member, during the service.
“Honestly and truly Mr. Huffstetler and I are just ordinary people, but what we get to do everyday for the ‘Old North State’ is an extraordinary thing,” said Miller. “Anybody can learn to play taps, its 24 notes. Anybody can learn to fold a flag, but to be truly good at what we do, to truly believe in what we do, you have to know why those 24 notes need to be played.”
After the playing of the bugle call, a firing party shoots three volleys that signify duty, honor, and sacrifice; a tradition that came from ceasefires in battle where each side would clear their dead. The firing of three volleys indicated the deceased were cleared and properly cared for and that the battle could resume.
At the end of the service, the flag is removed from the casket and the team performs a flag fold; done with anywhere from two to six Soldiers. Each fold represents something different and at the end, only the stars are left showing on the top. After the flag is folded, it is then presented to the next of kin.
“To fold that flag perfectly, with those thirteen triangular folds, anybody can do that, but can you put a little bit of yourself into each one of the folds have the message that you are trying to convey with the care and the precision with which you fold that flag? Can you convey that to the family?” said Miller. “If you can do that, then you have done your job.”
N.C. MFH serves more than 80 counties across the state with a staff of less than 25 personnel. The staff’s primary mission is to focus on performing these services across the state every day and sometimes two to three services in one day.
“This is what I do every day; it’s what I do, it’s what I read on, it’s what I study on, it’s what I aspire to do as a civilian; try to become a director of a national cemetery,” said Miller. “I get emotional every time I do this. I can’t imagine anything else in my life that I would rather do. If there was a way for me to do this for the rest of my life, I would.”
When the MFH are not performing honors services to families, the staff dedicates their time to the community by training members of Veterans Service Organizations (VSO’s) that also perform the duties to help augment teams in the field, and visit Veterans Affairs Hospitals, HOSPICE care and retirement communities to perform memorial service events for deceased service members in they’re care.
“Those [VSO’s] are a lot of great guys. We come in and we teach them what we do,” said Miller. “We trained them in everything from pawl bearing, flag folding and firing party, to color guards. It’s a combined force effort, throughout the state, not just Army Guard and Air Guard, but the whole military with the local veterans groups to make sure that no veteran goes without their military honors.”
| Date Taken: | 05.28.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 06.30.2015 14:15 |
| Story ID: | 168620 |
| Location: | SALISBURY, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 119 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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