George Nelson
February 12 at 6:00pm ·
Well I never thought I would ever speak this negative of my Marine Corps. But today has been a disgraceful day for my beloved Corps. As a proud Marine Corps Veteran I learned of an absolute travesty as far as I'm concerned for and by the Marine Corps. Bradshaw Funeral Home in Crisfield is handling the service of a retired Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant that served 2 tours in Vietnam, received 2 Purple Hearts and numerous medals for Valor and Gallantry. This highly decorated Marine and his family requested, as he very well earned and deserves, full Military Honors at his funeral. The funeral home contacted the Marine Corps at Quantico, Va. per protocol a couple of days ago. The funeral home was advised that this Gunnery Sergeant had earned the Honor and it would be carried out. They were forwarded to Fort Meade who also advised it was earned and would be carried out. There are Marines at Fort Meade even though it is primarily Army. The funeral home contacted Fort Meade this morning to double check and verify the details with the funeral being on Friday. They were then advised that he would only receive the Flag folding and presentation to the family. Nothing else. No good reason as to why. Quantico was recontacted and advised of the problem. They basically advised that if that's what they said then that's the way it is. Also advised that the widow could call them if she was not okay with the arrangements. Unprofessional!! This is certainly not Full Military Honors and why did they wait till the day before to notify the funeral home of this? This absurd and ridiculous!!! I am ashamed of the Marine Corps right now. Is this taking care of your own? What about all that Esprit de Corps, No Man Left Behind, We take Care of Our Own, etc. stuff they drill in our heads while we serve. Yeah, right, fine example!! This is disgusting and unreal. This man is a hero and it's no big deal to this Marine Corps. I have been irate all day. I have telephoned Senator Mathias's office, Senator Mikulski's office, the Commandant of the Marine Corps Office and the Marine Corps Barracks at 8th and I today. So far the Senators are the only ones that have even tried to help. This is just so wrong!!!! Please share this post.
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This is the new military. And no, it is not out-of-line to blame this on the Obama administration as well.
ReplyDeleteTerrible attitude from the Corp. Obviously they didn't want to interrupt their 3 day weekend by coming to the shore on Friday.
ReplyDeleteThe rendering of Military Funeral Honors for an eligible veteran, free of charge, is mandated by law. An honor guard detail for the burial of an eligible veteran shall consist of not less than two members of the Armed Forces. One member of the detail shall be a representative of the parent Service of the deceased veteran. The honor detail will, at a minimum, perform a ceremony that includes the folding and presenting of the American flag to the next of kin and the playing of Taps. When available taps will be played by a bugler, however there are so few buglers available that the military services may choose to provide an electronic recording of taps. The veteran's parent Service representative will present the flag.
ReplyDeleteFuneral Honors Eligibility
Military members on active duty or in the Selected Reserve.
Former military members who served on active duty and departed under conditions other than dishonorable.
Former military members who completed at least one term of enlistment or period of initial obligated service in the Selected Reserve and departed under conditions other than dishonorable.
Former military members discharged from the Selected Reserve due to a disability incurred or aggravated in the line of duty.
Verifying Eligibility
The preferred method for verifying eligibility is the DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty. If the DD Form 214 is not available, any discharge document showing other than dishonorable service can be used. The DD Form 214 may be obtained by filling out a Standard Form 180 and sending it to:
National Personnel Records Center(NPRC)
9700 Page Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63132
The Standard Form 180 may be obtained from the National Records Center or via the Internet at: http://www.archives.gov/research/order/standard-form-180.pdf.
Requesting Military Funeral Honors
Families of eligible veterans request funeral honors through their funeral director. The funeral director will contact the appropriate Military Service to arrange for the funeral honors detail.
From http://www.military.com/benefits/burial-and-memorial/military-funeral-honors.html