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Respect.
Honor. Tribute.
Story and photos by Staff Sgt. Jeff Lowry
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Indiana
National Guard Soldiers hold a U.S.
flag while learning the way to fold it during a training
class Wednesday, March 5, 2008 in Indianapolis.
The Soldiers will be part of Indiana's
Ceremonial Unit which provides military honors at funerals,
marches, parades and other public functions. U.S. Army photo
by Staff Sgt. Jeff Lowry, Indiana National Guard
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They do it for respect. They
do it for honor. They do it for tribute. Indiana National Guard
Soldiers joined the Ceremonial Unit for those altruistic reasons,
for their fallen comrades. It's an all-volunteer unit that responds
in times of heartache, suffering and pain.
“We do it to pay the
ultimate respect to a fallen Soldier,” said Sgt. 1st Class Tony
Williams, who has served in the unit for 10 years.
The unit provides military
funeral support for current and retired members of the Indiana
National Guard, explained full-time operations sergeant, Master Sgt.
Eric Anderson, when asked the unit's primary mission.
Williams, the unit's
firing-team noncommissioned officer in charge, said, “it's
satisfying serving with the unit. It really gives you a sense of
pride.”
While the unit also
provides military honors at marches, parades and other public
functions, its importance lies in military funerals.
“Our job is important for
three reasons,” said Anderson, an 18-year veteran with the unit.
“One, we pay respect to individual Soldiers; two, we honor them and
their service to the country; and three we pay tribute to them and
their families.”
“That's our motto," he
said. "Respect. Honor. Tribute.”
The unit started in April
1974, under the direction of Col. Wyatt O. Cole, who was then the
assistant state maintenance officer. He is seen as the founder of
the Ceremonial Unit.
According to
Anderson,
Cole attended a funeral for a fellow Soldier that lacked military
honors. Seeing a void, he sought approval from then adjutant
general, Maj. Gen. Alfred F. Ahner, to create an honor guard unit
for the state.
For nearly 27 years the
Indiana Guard Soldiers of the Ceremonial Unit were the only Guard
Soldiers who trained under the direction of the 3rd Infantry
Regiment, also known as the Old Guard. Those Soldiers are primarily
known for their involvement with the Tomb of the Unknowns.
“That's pretty cool to see
how they live and how they prepare before they ‘walk the mat,’” said
Anderson.
“We're in awe to see them and the things they do.”
Old Guard Soldiers, who
sometimes perform seven funerals per day at Arlington
National
Cemetery,
were in awe of their Indiana
brethren too.
“These are guys who do it
every day, yet they were amazed that we have to go to so many
different places,” said Lt. Col. Bernard Kruse, the unit's chief. He
went on to say the unit travels from one end of the state to the
other, performing in funerals or other military functions.
During an
Indiana
visit, an Old Guard Soldier asked Kruse if they had a map of the
cemetery to help Ceremonial Unit Soldiers find a burial site.
“No,” Kruse told the
Soldier. “They're eyes got big as saucers when I told them this
isn't the only cemetery were we have funerals,” he said.
The Old Guard's dedication
to craft is also reflected in Indiana's
Ceremonial Unit members.
“They want to be part of it;
they want to give back. Those who are killed gave their lives for
their country, and this is a way we can give back to them,” Anderson
said of himself and the other Ceremonial Unit members.
With
Indiana's
76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team deploying to
Iraq,
the Ceremonial Unit seeks to increase the number of volunteers.
“We know we're going to
need the help,” said Maj. Cathy Van Bree, the unit's operations
officer, during a unit training class for new officers and
noncommissioned officers.
Van Bree and Kruse agreed
the unit will need multiple events capability, and that the unit has
had a shortage of personnel.
During the training class
the two officers gave advice and help on becoming a good officer or
noncommissioned officer for a funeral detail.
“Don't let anything faze
you, and if something fazes you, don't let it show,” said Van Bree
to future officers in charge. Other tips helped with nervousness and
apprehension.
“Will you ever be a
perfect OIC?” asked Kruse, a 10-year veteran with the unit.
“Probably not. I still get antsy and jittery because I want to do a
good job for the family.”
Yet those fears are pushed to the back of the mind
when in the moment.
“As the OIC I don't get
wrapped up in what's being said or what's happening because I'm
thinking, ‘what's my next step, what's my next cue?’” said Kruse.
After the training class,
Ceremonial Unit members advise the incoming Soldiers.
“The mentoring has been absolutely fantastic,”
said Maj. Ron Crane, who has been a part of two funerals. “They’ll
help you out; that's for sure,” he said of the more experienced
Soldiers. Crane, an OIC-in-training, had been apprehensive due to
the unfamiliarity of military funeral protocol.
Another Soldier joined the
unit because of his history of being in honor guards.
“I did it in high school,” said 1st Lt. Kelsey
Graves who participated in Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps. "I
went to college at a military school and started the honor guard
there. So joining this unit is a continuation of that."
At 7, Graves visited
Arlington
National
Cemetery
and recalled seeing the Soldiers there. “They made quite an
impression on me,” he said.
As with the other
Ceremonial Unit Soldiers he feels a supreme distinction to those who
gave all.
“It's an honor to honor
fallen Soldiers.”
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