FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — Beyond their primary mission of training the Army's future warfighters, Fort Leonard Wood Soldiers honor a sacred commitment by providing a dignified final salute to fellow Soldiers through the Casualty Assistance Center’s Funeral Honors program.
“Our Fort Leonard Wood Soldiers take these missions on with great pride, and we always receive great support to accomplish the mission,” said Shena Flick, a Memorial Affairs coordinator with the Casualty Assistance Center at Fort Leonard Wood’s Directorate of Human Resources.
“I think it is important to render honors for service members because they earned it and it is within regulation to do so,” Flick said. “It is truly an honor to ensure they receive their last rights from the military.”
Since October 2025, Flick said Fort Leonard Wood’s Casualty Assistance Center has deployed 89 teams to perform military funeral honors and coordinated more than 8,365 military funeral honors with the support from National Guard units in Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin and Michigan, as well as the U.S. Army Reserve’s 88th Readiness Division.
According to Flick, Fort Leonard Wood’s funeral details have driven up to 16 hours one-way to render honors.
“Our area of responsibility is most of the state of Missouri, whole states of Illinois and Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan,” she added.
According to the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, [funeral honors](https://www.hrc.army.mil/content/Funeral%20Honors) can be given at any cemetery — private or government-operated.
“If it is full military honors, which is designated for active-duty service members and retirees, that would be a nine-person team, veterans receive a two-person team,” Flick said.
During full military funeral honors, Flick said Fort Leonard Wood’s Soldiers act as pallbearers if needed, serve as the firing team responsible for the gun salute, play taps and fold the flag before presenting it to the next of kin.
Flick said she “truly appreciates” all the Soldiers who join the funeral details to perform these solemn duties.
“It is not an easy mission for them to go out and render honors to families who lost their loved ones and to support them,” Flick said.
Once a request for funeral honors is received, Flick coordinates with brigades to assign a funeral detail.
Sgt. 1st Class Michael Oxendine, a senior drill sergeant with Company F, 1st Battalion 48th Infantry Regiment, has served in two funeral details since being assigned to Fort Leonard Wood.
He expressed deep pride and honor to have been able to participate in laying two Soldiers to restand bring comfort to their grieving families.
“Rendering military honors is important to me because it allows me as a service member to honor the fallen with dignity and respect,” Oxendine said. “At the end of the day, service members are expected to lay down their lives for their country. The very least we can do as an Army is render honors for their service.”
Flick agreed and said even though her job is often considered somber, she finds it very rewarding.
“We are helping families in the worst time of their lives,” Flick said. “We can be a beacon to help guide them and comfort them with the best of our abilities, and to ensure their loved one is honored with the upmost respect.”
More information about the Casualty Assistance Center is available on [Fort Leonard Wood’s website](https://home.army.mil/wood/about/Garrison/dhr/ca).
| Date Taken: |
08.31.2026 |
| Date Posted: |
08.31.2026 09:25 |
| Story ID: |
573566 |
| Location: |
FORT LEONARD WOOD, MISSOURI, US |
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25 |
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This work, The final salute: Fort Leonard Wood Soldiers honor fallen comrades through funeral program, by Melissa Buckley, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
