Courtesy Photo | This article was originally published in the August 2014 issue of the Plains Guardian....... read more read more
A military funeral renders the final salute of gratitude to a fallen service member, one last dedication to respect and honor the honorable.
It’s a serious task of paramount importance, especially to the family of the departed.
When retired Maj. Gen. Philip B. Finley, former adjutant general, and retired Command Sgt. Maj. Jack Elliott, former state command sergeant major, Kansas National Guard, attended the funeral of a Kansas Guardsman in the mid-80s, they each recognized the need for a better funeral detail to properly honor deceased Kansas Guardsmen and veterans.
“The effort was there,” acknowledged Elliott, a 41-year veteran inducted into the Kansas National Guard Hall of Fame in 1995. “But it wasn’t very good and we wanted to make sure we were giving due honor and respect to those who gave everything.”
Elliott reminisced that he and Finley spent the majority of the car ride back to Topeka from that funeral in western Kansas, talking about how to improve the funeral drill ceremonies. Elliott assured Finley that he had a fix.
The adjutant general placed his full confidence in his highest enlisted advisor, directing Elliott to establish a special unit, dedicated to funeral details and color guard duties.
This is how the Governor and Adjutant General’s Ceremonial Platoon of the Kansas National Guard was born, officially established in 1988. The platoon was originally comprised of only Soldiers, but later, at the direction of retired Command Sgt. Maj. Bud Smith, former state command sergeant major, included Airmen as well.
“I went to the Air Guard and explained that the adjutant general represented the Kansas National Guard, not just one branch,” said Smith. “We were a purple organization thus we should have both Army and Air represented. The Air Guard leadership agreed and we became an integrated platoon.”
Integration wasn’t limited to that of the Air Force and Army joining forces. The platoon also included females. Retired Sgt. Maj. Becky Middendorf, former operations sergeant major for the 69th Troop Command, was a member of the original group.
“It was an awesome privilege,” said Middendorf who served more than four years in the platoon.
Duties of the platoon included cordons, bugle playing, pall bearing, flag folding and presentation and firing parties for military funerals, and color guard ceremonies for government, community and military agencies. The platoon was on call whenever the adjutant general requested them, hence the name.
Participation in the GAGCP was voluntary and in addition to full-time duties. Members were required to be full-time Guardsmen and were selected by Elliott and subsequent state command sergeants major, based on an interview board and overall appearance. At one point, there were as many as 37 members.
“They had to look good,” said Elliott. “It’s all about appearance, so they had to be fit and look good in uniform.”
In keeping a keen eye on appearance, Elliott enlisted the help of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), Washington D.C., whom he called, “the best in the business,” to train his troops, bringing a small team 3rd Infantry Soldiers to Kansas, and later sending a larger contingent of GAGCP members to Washington D.C. to learn from and watch the Old Guard during ceremonies.
“I wanted our guys to train with the best,” said Elliott. “We tried to do everything the way the Old Guard did it. Everything was slow, smooth and precise. After that training, (we) got real good.”
Just because it tried to emulate the Old Guard doesn’t mean the ceremonial platoon didn’t develop a style of its own, according to retired Chief Warrant Officer 4 William Perry, former noncommissioned officer and officer in charge of the platoon.
Perry explained that honor guards in the National Guard today are trained to perform standardized routines, and there isn’t much room for unit-specific flair.
“We were able to incorporate some individualized movements into our routine that would differentiate us from other honor guards,” he said.
Along with the varied movements and timing, the Soldiers and Airmen of the ceremonial platoon wore no name tapes/tags, and donned ceremonial medals as opposed to ribbons in addition to a ceremonial belt, similar to that of military band regalia.
That also meant fighting against learned reflexes. For retired Chief Master Sgt. Danny Roush, former member of the ceremonial platoon who also had experience with the Air National Guard color guard, adapting to the more Army-centric routine of the GAGCP was necessary, but proved relatively seamless.
“We worked well together,” said Roush of the integration of Soldiers and Airmen.
There was even a badge Elliott designed, to be worn only by the members of the ceremonial platoon.
Quite literally a badge of honor, each member had to earn it through hours of training, practicing routines and uniform preparations, and immeasurable dedication, performing ceremonies that often fell on weekends and evenings.
Master Sgt. Mark Seats, senior aircraft maintenance sergeant with Joint Forces Headquarters-Land Component, an original member of the ceremonial platoon, estimated that he participated in more than 1,000 events.
“We took pride in doing ceremonies,” said Seats. “Especially the funeral details for fallen Guardsmen. We really took that responsibility to heart. We tried to provide some comfort and closure to the families in paying our final respects to their family member.”
Seats said there was a fraternal bond within the ceremonial platoon, comparing himself and his teammates to identical twins.
“We were like a band of brothers,” he said. “We got to be so good, that we could do our entire routine in complete silence, not speaking a word to one another, moving as one unit.”
Perry echoed the sense of family amongst members. “We were a special group and were very family oriented,” he said.
Sgt. 1st Class Clay Winters also noted the tight bond of the team and that perfection was always their goal, although unattainable because they were their own worst critics.
“We were hard on ourselves and demanded perfection because each event meant so much,” he said.
Visibility of the ceremonial platoon increased with each ceremony performed, with some members even appearing in the 1993 TV movie, “A Matter of Justice,” starring Martin Sheen.
“We were pretty high brow by that point,” Seats joked. “We were used in government commercials and performed at Kansas City Chiefs and Kansas City Royals games.”
Along with local ceremonies, the GAGCP had the opportunity to perform in a ceremony for Kansan Medal of Honor recipients at Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin.
There was also a trip to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 1999, accompanied by former Kansas Governor Bill Graves and former adjutant general retired Maj. Gen. Greg Gardner, along with five Kansas veterans who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, to lay a ceremonial wreath on the U.S.S. Arizona in remembrance of the Kansans and Americans who died there Dec. 7, 1941.
Demand for the platoon’s services grew so great within the state, that Seats and tenured members began training other KSNG units to conduct their own funeral ceremonies for their fallen Soldiers and veterans.
Perry said that while never officially disbanded, the GAGCP ultimately fizzled out due to overseas deployments of members and the formation of the Funeral Honors team.
The ceremonial platoon has reunited for several missions, mostly the funerals of relatives of the ceremonial team, said Perry.
Their memory lives on though, in photos, videos and especially among those who served.
“It was the highlight of my life,” said Spears.
| Date Taken: | 04.28.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 04.28.2016 16:34 |
| Story ID: | 196808 |
| Location: | TOPEKA, KS, US |
| Web Views: | 231 |
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