AN INDEPENDENT PUBLICATION OF COMPRINT MILITARY PUBLICATIONS AT JOINT BASE ANDREWS, MD.DCMILITARY.COM FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 | VOL. 3 NO. 47

COMMUNITY NEWSVA, nonprofits come together to endhomelessness among vets, Page 3

RETIREERetiree Corner, Page 2

COMMENTARYAn emotional machine; a

guardsman’s struggle, Page 2

BY SENIOR AIRMANMARIAH HADDENHAM

11TH WING PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Approximately 35wounded warriors gath-ered at Joint Base An-drews West Fitness Cen-ter, Nov. 13-16, to par-ticipate in the Air ForceAdaptive Sports and Re-conditioning Program.

The program introduc-es and sustains partici-pation in adaptive sportsand recreational activi-ties for wounded, ill andinjured Airmen.

“Our objective is tohelp these Airmen find a

sport or activity they canintegrate into their heal-ing process,” said TonyJasso, Joint Base San An-tonio-Randolph Air Forcewarrior sports programmanager.

Some of the activitiesinclude volleyball, basket-ball, golf, rowing, archery,and music therapy.

“These activities allowindividuals the oppor-tunity to establish newsupport networks,” Jassosaid. “This program helpsthese warriors get out oftheir houses and spend-

Wounded Warriorsports programbrings life backto wounded vets

U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTO/AIRMAN 1ST CLASS JARROD MAIDENS

U.S. Air Force Wounded Warriors gather at Joint BaseAndrews West Fitness Center Nov. 13-16, to partici-pate in the Air Force Adaptive Sports and Recondi-tioning Program.

see WOUNDED, page 5

BY BOBBY JONESSTAFF PHOTOJOURNALIST

Several veterans cel-ebrated at a 2014 WarVeterans Commemora-tive Breakfast on the eveof Veterans Day at JointBase Andrews Commis-sary Nov. 10.

Herbert Ruffin, JointBase Andrews Com-missary store managerserved as the master ofceremonies for the De-fense Commissary Agencysponsored event, whichreintroduced the official

Vietnam War Veteransflag, created by the De-partment of Defense inhonor of all Vietnam Warveterans and their fami-lies.

The purpose of theevent was to honor thesacrifice of Vietnam Warveterans and their fami-lies during the war.

One of the more col-orful speakers in atten-dance was legendary warhero and retired ArmyCommand Sergeant Ma-jor Daniel E. Harper, arecipient of the Silver

Medal, two Bronze Stars,three Purple Hearts andseveral other medals.Harper was one of the lastsurvivors of the infamousPork Chop Hill in Korea.Wearing the title of “Pla-toon Daddy,” given to himby his company becauseof his father-like image,the war veteran spokeabout his war experienceand new book entitled“Life of a Soldier,” whichdepicts his 23-plus yearsof service.

The featured guest

JBA co-hosts 2014 VietnamWar Veteran’s Commemorative Breakfast

PHOTO/BOBBY JONES

Honored speakers, veteran organizations and participants gather for photoopportunity under the VietnamWar Commemorative Flag after the 2014 VietnamWar Veteran’s Commemorative Breakfast in the Joint Base Andrews Commis-sary Nov. 10.see WAR, page 4

BY BOBBY JONESSTAFF PHOTOJOURNALIST

On Nov. 11, the Afri-can American Civil WarMemorial and Museumheld its 15th Annual Vet-erans Day Wreath Lay-

ing ceremony for BlackCivil War veterans inNorthwest Washington,DC.

“This memorial is forAfrican Americans whowere recruited, trained,organized and engaged in

battle in the same statesthat had been enslaved.In some cases, they hadbeen engaged in fightswhere their slave mas-ters had been captured,”said Frank Smith, Ph.D.,Museum director. “So for

them this was a war ofliberation. This memorialis for the 3.9 million Af-rican Americans held inslavery, which fought inthe Civil War and foughttheir way to freedom.”

African American Civil WarMemorial pay tribute atwreath laying ceremony

PHOTO/BOBBY JONES

Patricia Tyson, amuseum freed re-enactor gives the opening prayer prior to thewreath laying ceremony heldat the African American Civil WarMemorial Statue near themuseum in Northwest, Washington, D.C. Nov. 11.

see MEMORIAL, page 5

Andrews Gazette2 Friday, November 21, 2014

Andrews Gazette is published by Comprint MilitaryPublications, 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg,Md., a private firm in no way connected with the U.S.Air Force or any branch of the United States military.The appearance of advertising in these publications,

including inserts or supplements, does not constitute endorsementby the Department of Defense, the Department of the Air Force orthe products and services advertised.

Everything advertised in this publication shall be made available forpurchase, use or patronage without regard to race, color, religion,sex, national origin, age,martial status, physical handicap, political af-filiation or any other nonmerit factor of the purchases, user or patron.

COMPRINT MILITARY PUBLICATIONS

Maxine Minar, presidentmminar@dcmilitary.com

John Rives, publisherjrives@dcmilitary.com

Deirdre Parry, page designdparry@gazette.net

Leslie Smith, editorlsmith@dcmilitary.com

Bobby Jones, photographerbjones@dcmilitary.com

November 21-23Death Takes a HolidayFriday and Saturday, 8 p.m; Sunday, 2 and 7 p.m.Laurel Mill Playhouse 508 Main Street, Laurel,

MDDrama based on the conception of death suspend-

ing all activities for three days; during that time, hefalls in love and learns why mortals fear him. Visitwww.laurelmillplayhouse.org for more information.

8 p.m. $20, students and active duty military $15.

Saturdays and SundaysBumper Cars on IceTucker Road Ice Rink, 1770 Tucker Road, Fort

Washington 20744Solo riders must be ages 6 & up; riders ages 5 &

under must ride with an adult. Last ride begins 10minutes prior to the end of the session. Rides are ona first-come, first-served basis. Fees are based on 1person per ride; each ride is 4-5 minutes in length.For more information call 301-265-1525.

Through January 4Gaylord National’s ICE!A special holiday, interactive 100-acre walk-

through park featuring a winter wonderland cre-ated of 2 million pounds of ice, hand sculpted by in-ternational artisans. This year’s theme is Frosty theSnowman. Visit www.gaylordnationaltickets.com formore information.

Price and hours vary, with discounts for military.

November 28-30Noon-5 p.m.15th Annual Gingerbread House Contest & ShowDarnall’s Chance House Museum, 14800 Gover-

nor Oden Bowie Drive, Upper Marlboro 20772Come view an amazing display of edible ginger-

bread houses. You will have the opportunity to votefor best house in the Viewer’s Choice Award Com-petition.

$1/person; Children 4 & under free.

November 28-January 1Festival of Lights5-9:30 p.m.Watkins Regional Park, 301 Watkins Park Drive

(Route 193), Upper Marlboro, MD 20774Don’t miss this holiday drive-through event fea-

turing more than one million twinkling lights. Thisyear’s Festival features new displays.

Hot ticketsaround town

BY AIRMAN 1ST CLASSJOSHUA R. M. DEWBERRY

11TH WING PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Look sharp, but move fluidly. Becrisp in movement, yet smooth inmotion. Appear motionless and donot show any emotion (if you can).

This is the delicate balance aJoint Base Andrews Air Force basehonor guardsman faces.

I didn’t know what it meant tobe a guardsman for most of my life.I would watch movies and televi-sion shows growing up and usuallyonly see them at a funeral.

I would see a similar scene ineach instance. A small crowd ofpeople standing around a casket,ranging from stoic onlookers togrieving family members clingingto each other for emotional support.

The same order of events wouldtake place. The flag folding overthe casket, the rifle party off in thedistance, the bugler playing “Taps,”and then finally the climax of thescene happens.

The one remaining guardsmanstands near the casket holdingthe American flag, it is folded withsuch precision that it could cut thegloves holding it, yet cradled everso gently, like a mother carryingher newborn baby.

He would slowly walk with pur-pose over to the widow and getdown on one knee. Then hand theflag to her, look her in the eye andsay something along the lines of:“On behalf of the President of theUnited States, the Department of(insert branch here), and a gratefulnation, we offer our nation’s flag for

the faithful and honorable serviceof your loved one.”

This is the condolence given tothe next-of-kin in what could verylikely be the last interaction theyhave with the military for the restof their life.

Every moment was building upto the passing of the flag and themessage of condolence. When itwas my turn to experience this formyself, all I could think at the timewas, “don’t screw it up, don’t screwit up.”

There is one thing the cinemat-ic version of this real life eventdoesn’t tell you; it’s difficult to dis-tance yourself emotionally from the

pain that you’re specifically trainedto be in the heart of

It’s seemed like a mystery to meat first why someone would want tobe in that position.

The honor guard was not some-thing I initially thought I wantedto do and for good reason; who en-joys going to funerals? It’s blunt tosay it that way, but is there really asimpler way to put it?

I came into the Air Force as pho-tojournalist. My job was to capturethe Air Force story, which wouldsadly include funerals.

My mission was to be a fly onthe wall and take pictures for thefamily. I have been to Arlington Na-tional Cemetery many times for allkinds of funerals, whether they befull or standard honors.

The tsunami of emotion thefamilies projected never got to mebecause I was just the guy witha camera hopping from one oddspot to the other trying to get theperfect shot. Never interfere withthe ceremony, just do the job I wastrained to.

I dodged emotion because I couldalways tell myself, “Well, at leastI’m not a part of this.”

The irony of my thoughts doesnot escape me as I write thesewords.

This past summer, my supervi-sor walked around the office askingif anyone wanted to join base honorguard. I didn’t think much of theopportunity at first, except that itwould be a unique experience andgreat bullet on my profile.

CommentaryAn emotional machine; a guardsman’s struggle

U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTO/SSGT NICHELLE ANDERSON

A Joint Base Andrews HonorGuardsman poses for a photoNov. 7. The American flag is pre-sented as it is during funerals fordeceased military vetarans whenpassing the flag to the next-of-kin.

Records UpdatedRecords for airmen separated or

retired under the fiscal 2014 Volun-tary Separation Pay program havebeen updated to reflect eligibilityfor transitional medical benefits.Those separating under the fiscal2014/15 VSP program are autho-rized transition benefits, including180 days of premium-free Tricarecoverage for the separatee andeligible family members. Affectedairmen have been advised of thesechanges. Airmen who applied forseparation and are still within 180days from separation should visitthe nearest military ID card issu-ance facility to obtain the appropri-ate forms that allow for use of thebenefits. Airmen also can contactthe Air Force Total Force ServiceCenter at 1-800-525-0102 for addi-tional information.

Scholarship HelpThe Air Force Aid Society (AFAS)

is accepting applications for threeeducation programs. The GeneralHenry H. Arnold Education Grant

offers need-based grants of at least$2,000 to dependent children ofactive, retired and deceased AirForce members. Surviving spousesof retired members are also eligi-ble. Applicants must be enrolled asfull-time undergraduates at an ac-credited college or university dur-ing the 2015-2016 academic yearand are required to maintain aminimum 2.0 grade-point average(GPA). Merit Scholarship (incomingfreshmen) – with top GPA’s as veri-fied through the Arnold educationgrant application – will be contact-ed by AFAS to compete for these$5,000 merit-based scholarships.A minimum of 10 scholarships areawarded annually. Completing thegrant application also determineseligibility for an interest-free sup-plemental loan program. Sponsor-ing members may request up to$1,000 per eligible student to helpreimburse out-of-pocket educationexpenses. The program has an av-erage 60 percent selection rate andprovides 100 percent of those eli-gible with validated financial need.

Application deadline is March 13.For more information, visit www.afas.org/education-grants.

Claims Form AddedA VA disability claims form will

be introduced in March that stan-dardizes the process to file claimsand initiate appeals. Previously noform was needed for written claimswhich caused delays due to missinginformation. The updated processalso includes standardizing thetraditional informal claims processby employing a new “Intent to Filea Claim” process which affords theclaimant one year to compile neces-sary documentation or evidence tosupport the claim while preservingan effective date of claim.

The Retiree Activities Office isopen 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Mondaythrough Friday. Visit the office inBuilding 1604 at California andColorado Avenues or call 301 981-2726. Call before your visit to ensurea volunteer is on duty. The RAO hasa website at www.andrews.af.mil.

Retiree Corner

see COMMENTARY, page 6

Andrews GazetteFriday, November 21, 2014 3

BY LESLIE C. SMITHSTAFF WRITER

In a continuing effortto seek solutions and findnew ways to take careof homeless veterans, agroup of like-minded in-dividuals came togetherto share information andresources. Earlier thismonth the VA MedicalCenter’s Health Care forHomeless Veterans Pro-gram gathered local non-profit organizations andallied citizens togetheron Nov. 1 to share initia-tives as well as inves-tigate the ways to helpthe population at theWorking Together to EndHomelessness sympo-sium in Washington, DC.The event was intendedas a vehicle for the entirecommunity to learn aboutinitiatives in place to endveteran homelessness, aswell as, present oppor-tunities for people to be-come involved. The bevyof speakers and panelistsshared past successful ac-tions as well as emergingnew tools and informa-tion to endeavor to bestaccess and help this pop-ulation.

Assessment tools suchas the VI-SPDAT – Vul-nerability Index andService PrioritizationDecision Assistant Tool– are some of the moreinnovative tools being de-veloped to delve deeperinto meeting the needs ofhomeless vets. Developed

by OrgCode of Toronto, itis being used as a part ofa 25-city campaign wherethe level of homelessnessis the highest in a 100-day initiative to figureout how to best reducehomelessness. Sittingdown to talk with DavidTweedie, System Admin-istrator for the Com-munity Partnership forthe Prevention of Home-lessness, as well as theteam leader for the 100-day Initiative, he sharedthere are more than 100other additional cities us-ing this tool, making formore than 130 cities us-ing the index.

“Nationwide morethan 300,000 people havebeen accessed with thissame best practices tool;there are countless pag-

es of pure reviewed re-search behind it that thisis truly the best practice.We looked at things likehow long have you beenhomeless – if you havebeen homeless out on thestreets or under a bridgefor 30 years. What doesthat look like for you? …How often are you usingthe ER? How often areyou arrested; how oftenare you being forciblyinstitutionalized againstyour will for mentalhealth? Are you takingyou medications; do youhave cancer, HIV, chron-ic health conditions?”Tweedie said.

“In general we look atthe history of homeless-ness: risks – if you areconstantly being beat upout on the streets…; so-

cialization – things likeif your friends are alwaystaking your money; or doyou have a support sys-tems, talk to people otherthan voices in your head?And lastly, wellness –medical conditions, men-tal health, and substanceusage. That is the generalframe up for the tool.

“We are not using theER or having interac-tions with the police inthe same way that peoplewho are homeless; andpeople who are homelessaren’t using the ER oraccessing police or am-bulance even the sameacross that population.There is a subset of all ofus and a subset of home-less that is using a dis-proportionate amount ofservices. So the argumentis the Million Dollar Mur-ray story – if one person –the famous Murray – wasusing a million dollarsworth of resources everyyear by keeping him un-housed, therefore by mov-ing someone into hous-ing you save not just thehousing system moneybut mental health, hos-pitals, police, everyonecombined.”

Just one of the nu-merous events the VAhas, this event servedan even more importantpurpose, Kevin Mor-ton, Washington DC VAMedical Center, shared,“We have events all thetime, the VA requires usto do what we call a chal-lenge event where we tellthe community what wedo so that they’re awarewhat the VA is doing.This is slightly differentbecause the whole coor-dinated entry is relative-ly new; and it’s the en-tire community comingtogether to house home-less people. The VA hastaken a kind of lead withall the vouchers and allthe resources they havebeen able to put behindhousing veterans and ourgoal is to have no home-less veterans by the endof 2015. So the reasonwhy we did this is be-cause what we have andwho is working with usnow are different home-less providers within thecommunity, this is theirniche – to work withhomeless people as an or-ganization. We have cometogether as a group; and

what we wanted to do isintroduce this to more ofthe community organiza-tions – churches, sorori-ties, fraternities – whenwe targeted it, that’s theaudience we targeted forthis.

“A lot of people don’tunderstand the plightof homeless people; wewanted to talk about theproblems that homelesspeople have. One of thebigger things is that ahomeless person dies 10-25 years earlier than theaverage population; wewanted to get those kindsof things out to the gen-eral public so they knowthe seriousness of whatwe’re trying to do.”

The day was not justpeople talking about theneed but people who hadexperienced the need.Several veterans sharedtheir stories of being onthe low end and makingtheir way to the otherside.

“I actually think moreveterans should be in-vited because, just likemyself, I had no idea thatthose things were avail-

VA, nonprofits come together to end homelessness among vets

PHOTO/BOBBY JONES

Jill Carmichael, Friendship Place; David Tweedie,TheCommunity Partnership for the Prevention of Home-lessness; Garnet Nelson, MSW, Department of Veter-ans Affairs are part of the team heading the 100-Dayinitiative to best figure out how to reduce homeless-ness.

see HOMELESS, page 5

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Andrews Gazette4 Friday, November 21, 2014

speaker was Wilbert B. ForbesSr., Deputy Secretary, VeteranSupport Centers of America,who commended Herbert Ruf-fin, JBA Commissary storemanager for sponsoring theevent and thanked him for theinvitation.

“I couldn’t think of a bet-ter place I’d want to be thanthe Joint Base Andrews Com-missary on the eve of VeteransDay,” said Forbes. He addressedthe family members, thankingthem for their continued sup-port. “I want to thank you allfor the sacrifices you have madeduring our military service.It’s been so important to us, tothe point that many of you arenow serving as care givers forus who have fought in battlesand have come back and needattention,” said Forbes. “So asyou family members continueto serve, we’re thankful.”

Forbes also paid tributeto the WWII heroes, the lateFrank Buckles who passed in2010 and Frank Overton, whois currently the oldest livingWWII Veteran, at the age of109 years old. He is quite a vet-eran. “You need to Google hisname, and find out more abouthim. He still drives a pickuptruck,” said Forbes. “But whatthis tells us is that our veter-ans are living longer, but we’re

still aging and suffering fromdisabilities. However, sadly,we’re losing our WWII veter-ans at a tremendous rate of1000 to 1200 a day across thisgreat land. Most local veteransin their early to mid 90s prob-ably come in this commissaryto shop.We have a debt of grat-itude to pay to these individu-als.”

Forbes noted the greatestvoid today is the lack of com-munication to the services and

benefits available, anxious toshare his knowledge regardingveteran benefits.

“We have to do a better jobof navigating this system togetting our benefits. There ishelp, you can go to the VA.govwebsite and get started. I can’ttell you how important it isto be enrolled in the system,”said Forbes. “Today we have22.7 million veterans that arestill moving around the coun-try. However, there are about

8.5 million vets who are stillnot enrolled in the system, andthey should be enrolled. Forbesexplained, today there are Vet-eran Service Officers trainedin helping you to navigate thesystem and learn about yourhealth care and benefits.

“If you want service youmust be enrolled in the system.One of the newest CommunityBased Outpatient Clinics is lo-cated next to the Andrews Fed-eral Credit Union. It offers avariety of health care services.They’ll take care of getting youenrolled and mailing you yourID card in seven to 10 days,”said Forbes.

In closing, he added, “Vet-erans we’ve got to take care ofeach other and ourselves. Soenjoy Veterans Day, thank youfor your service; and, families,thank you for your sacrifices.”

At the end of the event,veterans and their families inattendance posed for a photo-graph under the Vietnam WarCommemorative Flag.

Among the organizationsrepresented at the event were,The Military Order of PurpleHeart, Veterans of ForeignWars and Tuskegee Airmen aswell as members from JointBase Andrews’ 11th Wing, Na-vy, Army and Marine veterans.

PHOTOS/BOBBY JONES

Retired Army Command Sergeant Major Daniel E. Harper, arecipient of the Silver Medal, two Bronze Stars, three PurpleHearts and several other medals shares his story as one of thelast survivors of the infamous Pork Chop Hill in Korea. Harperwas known as ‘Platoon Daddy,’ a titled given to him by his com-pany because of his father-like image, the war veteran spokeabout his war experience and new book entitled ‘Life of a Soldier’which depicts his 23-plus years of service.

Wilbert B. Forbes, Sr., Deputy Secretary, Veteran Support Cen-ters of America and guest speaker, addresses an audience ofveterans during a 2014 Vietnam War Veteran’s CommemorativeBreakfast at the Joint Base Andrews Commissary Nov. 10.

WAR, from page 1

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Andrews GazetteFriday, November 21, 2014 5

ing more time with their families.”The program works with any Air

Force members who have been injuredin the line of duty. This includes Ac-tive Duty, Reserve and National Guardmembers.“You don’t have to be in a wheel chair

to play sports with us,” Jasso said. “Wework with a wide variety of injuriesand encourage these Airmen to gravi-tate back towards an active lifestyle,because inactivity kills wounded war-riors.”The program creates a different

perspective on how the Airmen viewtheir injuries, helps restore confidence,breaks the cycle of feeling like a pa-tient, a mindset that often discourages

Airmen, and restores the ‘team’ outlookby encouraging one another.“The program taught me that my dis-

ease doesn’t have to debilitate me,” saidDeloris Giger, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph Air Force Wounded Warriorparticipant. “They told me they wouldgive me my life back and they did.”Giger, a first-time participant, plans

to continue with the program to helpinspire others going through circum-stances similar to her own that she canrelate to.“I want to be held accountable,”

Giger said. “I want someone to tell methat I can do it, not to give up. I want todo that for someone else.”For more information on Air Force

Adaptive Sports and ReconditioningProgram, call 808-777-7442 or emailairforcewoundedwarrior@gmail.com.

WOUNDED, from page 1

During the opening ceremony TonyaCanada, a noted jazz singer, sung a jazzversion of America the Beautiful andLift Every Voice to an audience in frontof the African American Civil War Me-morial Statue.Patricia Tyson, a museum freed re-

enactor, gave the ceremony openingprayer to several onlookers participat-ing in the annual event.Museum director, Dr. Smith was

later joined by Army Sgt. Maj. DonaldSparks, Defense Media Activity, FortMeade, a Civil War period museum re-enactor and Civil War soldier ancestorin carrying the wreath to a resting placeat the foot of the African American CivilWar Memorial statue.In the closing ceremony, a museum

freed re-enactor shared heartfelt wordsfrom the biography of Harriet Tubmanbefore returning to a program insidethe museum. “She ran for her freedom

nineteen times to save Black sisters andbrothers. Harriet Tubman didn’t takeno stuff. Wasn’t scared of nothing nei-ther. Didn’t come in this world to be noslave... And didn’t stay one either.”Afterward, the museums Civil War

period re-enactors led the audience asthey marched from the ceremony sightto museum for the remainder of the Vet-erans Day observance.Among the featured speakers was

retired Army Col. James Wyatt, whoaddressed an audience in the museum’sauditorium, expounding on the contri-butions of Nannie Helen Burroughs,an educator, religious leader and civilrights advocate and the triumph of theTuskegee Airmen as the first group ofAfrican American aviators to see battleduring WWII.Dr. Smith noted, “This Veterans Day

observance is a special tribute that welook forward to every year in honoringthe contributions of the soldiers.”

PHOTO/BOBBY JONES

From left, Army Sgt. Maj. Donald Sparks, Defense Media Activity, Fort Mead,assists Frank Smith, Ph.D., Museum director, center, an ancestor of an AfricanAmerican Civil War soldier and a museum Civil War re-enactor during the wreathlaying ceremony held at the African American Civil War Memorial Statue near themuseum in Northwest, Washington, D.C. Nov. 11.

MEMORIAL, from page 1

able to me. And to see all the differentagencies that are working to help themfind jobs, to end homelessness – whichis far more severe than people canever imagine, especially right herein the District. Because, like I said,no one even knew I was homeless; soyou don’t know what homeless lookslike. I think this was a great eventand I’m so appreciative that I hadan opportunity to come here; not somuch to speak but just to absorb andgive back – to say thank you… Thiswas phenomenal,” said Mary Jones,a 15-year veteran who shared herplight from being employed to home-

lessness back to gainful employment.“As far as events like this, the most

important part is the VA communicat-ing with the community partners andbridging — or closing — what othergaps there may be; which we stillhave, we’ll always have them. It’s aprocess in the works; a lot of the ser-vices available now weren’t availablethree years ago when I was homeless.I’m really happy that everyone gottogether,” said Vicky Thomas, CPS,Peer Support Counselor HCHV/HUD-VASH/OUTREACH.Anyone who wants to become in-

volved in these efforts should contactWashington DC VA Homeless MedicalProgram.

HOMELESS, from page 3

1042922

Andrews Gazette6 Friday, November 21, 2014

I knew it would only be a part-time duty for thenext year and I could walk away at the end of the daysaying that I paid my respects to those who wore theuniform before me.

So, I said yes, signed the paperwork and awaitedmy training. Several months later, I walked into thehonor guard training facility down the road to begina very repetitive and but necessary training course.

Every day we learned a different step-by-step pro-cess for each type of ceremony the honor guard takespart in.

Two-person flag folds for a retirement ceremonyversus a six-person fold for standard honors funerals.Firing party cadences for a funeral versus rifle posi-tions for a colors party. Calling commands for colorsand hoping to God you don’t drop the flag, lest youbecome “that guy” and now we have to burn our na-tional symbol.

The list goes on and on.

After spending weeks of training, for hours a day,and doing many missions across the National CapitalRegion, I can comfortably say that’s not what honorguard is all about.

Wearing the ceremonial uniform has a much deep-er and poignant meaning to it..

Despite the fact that paying respect to our deceasedveterans is congressionally mandated, there’s a state-ment I remember from Chaplain (Col.) Charles Cor-nelisse, 11th Operations Group Arlington Senior AirForce Chaplain at Arlington, when I was interviewinghim for another story.

He said, “If the military gets nothing else right,at least we know the most important thing to do forthese families of our brothers and sisters in uniform,is to pay our respects and show how much we appreci-ate their service to this country.”

That’s the quintessential point of honor guard.Honor guard has taught me a great deal, but

there’s one thing you can’t be taught no matter howmuch training you do.

Until you kneel before a somber-eyed stranger and

look at their tears, you cannot truly grasp the nearindescribable feeling of saying thank you for serviceof someone who you didn’t even know, but still respect.

I had to stare into the very face of despair and loss,but fight the human reaction of wanting to wrap myarms around that hurting soul and say it’s going to beok. Then, to remove myself from the situation, I let goof the flag I so intently held with snow white gloveswrapped around my hands, almost as if I wasn’t wor-thy to touch it.

I stand up to render a final salute and then turnaway. I’m careful to never turn to my back so as notinsult the flag, but just enough to the side to face awayfrom the grief-stricken eyes staring at me. Finally, Imarch off..

Moving with flawless motion like a machine, butstill showing the ideal values of compassion, venera-tion and honor is difficult.

I like to refer to what every troop in basic traininghears when pushing through that last set of push-upsor the last lap around the track. “It doesn’t get easier,you just get better.”

Funerals won’t get any less miserable, but youlearn to take in the glum reality of losing a siblingin arms and deliver the reverence that person, theuniform and flag deserves.

My honor guard trainers told me that these hardmoments just come with the job. However, it’s impor-tant to remember that we are there for the families,because that last show of respect is all for them.

Wearing the ceremonial uniform is a calling thatdemands discipline, duty and dignity. I say the words,“thank you for your service,” knowing someday, some-one else is going to say the same thing to my family.

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