(24DEC2008)
It has been months since we had a Fallen Comrade ceremony.
It's a little after 1900 and well past sundown. The Big Voice just announced the ceremony. I knock on Izzy's door and we walk up to the road and stand waiting in the cold – and it feels colder for standing still.
The time they announce for the ceremony is always well in advance of the actual motorcade, and everyone chats quietly while we wait. During a ceremony some months ago, two soldiers were talking - and laughing - a little too loud. I watched as a nearby SGM straightened them out quickly and effectively. This is not the time or place to get goofy.
Izzy and I chat about the holidays. He tells me what he and his wife got the kids and what he ordered online for his wife. I tell him I'm looking forward to the turkey tomorrow.
By the time the escort MPs and the HMMWV with the casket roll by, the road is once again lined with soldiers and other personnel. I see the headlights crawling down the street toward us and we transition from an ‘at ease’ position to standing at attention. As the first vehicle begins to pass, we salute and hold that until the HMMWV passes, the flag-draped casket being guarded by the somber colleagues of the fallen who ride in the back.
The motorcade turns a corner and heads to the flightline where an aircraft is ready to accept it. They never have a ceremony until the plane is ready to roll. They don’t leave our fallen heroes waiting around for a flight; they do things right.
As the vehicles turn that corner, we disperse and head home - or what passes for it.
SGM = Sergeant Major
MP = Military Police
HMMWV = Highly Mobile Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle
