Posted on 12/25/2015 1:37:09 AM PST by WhiskeyX
When a veteran or member of the armed forces dies, he or she is entitled to a ceremony that includes the presentation of a U.S. flag to a family member and a bugler blowing Taps. Most of the time, there is a three-volley rifle salute if requested by family members. But now, if the deceased served in the Air Force, the three-volley salute is not an option because the Air Force can no longer support riflemen for funeral services for veteran retirees.
[....]
“To me, without the 21-gun salute, it just does not make it complete a proper military burial,†veteran Wayne Wakeman told Honolulu’s KHON 2 News. “I think because of sequestration or the lack of funds or whatever excuse they’re giving, that they had to hit the veterans.â€
Wakeman is correct in supposing the cut is due to sequestration, the 2013 automatic federal spending cuts required by the Budget Control Act of 2011.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Surely some active-duty and retired volunteers could be found?
Our American Legion Post will do it.
Our American Legion Post will do it.
Utterly chickensh*t.
With all the crap upon which the government spends its money, they can’t manage this????
Unbelievable.
More obama hate-the-military BS.
You are correct, sir.
I’d bet there are at least 1000 FReeper veterans from each state that would volunteer their time & travel to honor these brave men with a volley.
Merry Christmas, Jack Hammer.
I did this here in the US while I was waiting to go overseas in 1969. We had seven on the Garands we used and 6 pall bearers and a bugler and an NCO or officer and we covered all of Georgia from Macon southward - Dobbins took care of the northern part I think. It was usually a 1 day trip and we took two AF station wagons. It couldn’t have cost all that much.
I’d think that if an AFB had to cut money to meet allotment amounts, it could find the savings somewhere else on base.
If this were about the cost of the bullets involved...then the gifted AF guys would buy a $10,000 sound system and just tape the firing and have a couple of guys standing there with imitation guns...pretending to fire the founds. It’s not a cost thing, I can guarantee that.
They aren’t lessening their honor guard team on any base either....go ask them....they’ve still got the same number as before.
I suspect if you dig into this....they didn’t want to worry people with them driving around in public with rifles and ammo.
We used crimped blanks - relatively cheap. Didn’t use blank firing adapters on the muzzle. We dropped the Garand in the crook of our left arm and used the left palm to cycle the action, then raise up and shoot again. In the picture, it looks like an M14 they’re using.
My father, a Navy vet, was just laid to rest at the nearby National Military Cemetary in October.. He was given a 21 gun salute by a VFW chapter comprised of men in their 60’s and 70’s. The shell casings were placed in a bag and given to my mother following the committal service. I was so impressed with the respect and dignity offerred, and the reverence by which the volunteers carried themselves.
As an Air Force vet myself, I would want the 21 gun salute in order for my family to have the same experience in my passing. It lends itself to the finality of the death, and aids tremendously in the grieving process.
This is just another liberal/obama act of disrespect to the military.
Petulant posturing putrid potentate prick is obama.
ANY military branch that actually states and allows a publication of funeral restrictions for a warrior, is, imo, not fit to have The United States precede it's nomenclature, thus;
The United States Air Force no longer exists
It is now the air force .... all lower case ... because you're just part of a sentence structure now.
This is typical of governments, whether a school dept or the Air Force; when their budget demands are not met, they throw a tantrum by cutting the most publicly noticeable item they can. In the case of a school dept, they cut art, books, or chalk instead of cutting the 42 assistant vice principal positions. In the case of the Air Force, they leave their multi-billion dollar boondoggles intact such as the F35, but have no money for a funeral salute. It’s petty and it’s typical of bureaucracies.
It’s the Mooselimb in cheat and his unConstitutional ban on guns ..
The son of my quilting friend regularly volunteers to do this at vets’ funerals. He’ll travel 100+ miles to do it, he’s happy to do it, and sometimes it’ll be several times in a month. That’s here in Tennessee, the Volunteer State, and I don’t know how other places handle it.
As an aside, having lived here for six years, we’re so impressed by the generosity and charity of the Tennessee folks, and their willing to step up and help others. I ring bells for Salvation Army and it seems that the less fortunate passers-by are more apt to donate than those with the better clothes, cars, etc. Anyhow, FWIW...
I’m betting that there are hundreds, even thousands, of military veterans who would be more than willing to answer this call to honor a fallen comrade.
There was a time — long, long ago when I was an army bugler. I played over 100 funerals before going to Viet Nam. The firing squad as well as the bugler were important to the family. Several years ago I found out that recordings were used instead of buglers.
Sad times.
“With all the crap upon which the government spends its money, they can’t manage this????”
Let’s say your family is the government. You spend your budget on, say, beer and cigarettes. Your wife buys food and sends bouquets to friend’s funerals. Your wife has run short of food money. She needs to cut someplace and food is not an option. She cuts bouquets. You, meanwhile, don’t care as long as you can keep buying beer and cigarettes.
I agree, government wastes 90 cents of every dollar. But the budget is divided into different pots and the pot-holders are not inclined to share. Actually, they are forbidden to share.
Posts here suply buglers. This is not about cost it’s about contempt. Contempt by the Bastard in Chief.
$59/gal biofuel ain’t cheap.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.