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The summer of 1975 I was a member of a USAF Honor Guard and at a funeral at one of the cemeteries in New Orleans the ground underneath me gave way and I went into the grave. Luckily the other five's ground held and were able to set the casket onto the stand. We kept our composure and I crawled out and took my place and everything went on as planned. The M-16s' were notorious for malfunctioning and at the 21 gun salutes many times half fired the second and third volleys. Placing a casket in the top of some of the mausoleums in New Orleans created many problems as to how to get the casket placed right with smart military action and practicality. We came close to watching a casket slide back off the top at one funeral but lucky for us with the help of the officer and the two guards that accompanied the flagbearers we got the casket back to the top. New Orleans is always muddy and the graves in the ground unstable and the mausoleums treacherous. I could write a book on the things that happened.

Does anyone know the current procedures for burial of vets? I've heard that with the army overcommitted, taps is being played as a cassette over a loudspeaker, and RC units are now doing the details for burial (which was once done by active duty units). Anyone got the info on this? Just curious.