Outline
- Don Collins sits outside planning the next plot he needed to dig for a casket.
- Collins had grown up helping his family run the funeral home with his brothers. He preferred to work outside.
- Collins grabbed a shovel and made his first dig into the ground.
- He protected the ground around the hole with plywood. He took the pieces of earth to the far corner of the Scottsburg Cemetary
- The next day, a vanload of soldiers showed up for the funeral. They stood in formation and took their places.
- The hearse took a longer route than the soldiers did to get to the cemetery from the church
- At 1 o’clock the heart arrived at the cemetery with a crowd of people waiting for it.
- The soldiers lifted the casket from the hearse to the lowering machine. The casket was in a special vault designed specifically for soldiers. The soldiers took their weapons from the pile.
- There was a prayer, a bagpipe rendition of “Amazing Grace,” three recorded songs, and then Dawson gave the soldiers their signal.
- The seven soldiers fired three volleys each in unison.
- Leatherbee described as a genuine bugler
- The playing of the bugle, differences between different bugle players
- Open or closed eyes when playing the bugle at a funeral
- Soldiers folded the flag
- Description of the folding of the flag (for 4 graphs)
- Flag was inspected
- Flag handed to the general officer assigned to attend funerals
- General Officer’s interaction with the wife of the fallen soldier
- Officer drops to her knees in front of wife to give her the flag
- Meaning of the flag
- The end of the service
- Don Jr. brings dirt back from far side of the cemetery and placed the temporary metal marker on the head of the grave
- Gail (soldier’s mom) remembers the soldier’s Baptism as one of the firsts in the church
- Gail’s cigarette kit and smoking addiction
- The many losses of Gail’s life
- Joe’s Family that was still alive and at the funeral
- Attendees of the funeral
- Why Joey joined the army
- The escort from the airport to the funeral home
- The long procession at the airport
- The biggest procession the policemen had ever seen
- The Patriot Guard
- The Sergeants in the escort
- Gail’s car in the procession
- People crying for them on the sidewalks
- Joey’s work at the steel forge
- Joey’s best friend crying while driving thinking of their friendship
- They became friends in high school
- How they helped each other
- Joey buying ryan’s art
- Ryan designed tombstones
- The procession down the highway, families saluting
- Meant a lot to the family
- Explains how life was hard for Joey after high school
- He went to live with his sister
- Ryan came to visit him there
- Joey wanted to come home
- Joey came home and got his life together
- Joey and Missie had kids and didn’t have enough money
- Joined the army in 2005
- He joined to be like his brother
- Joey was able to provide for his family
- The last time Gail saw Joey
- Joey was proud of himself
- Back to the procession
- They opened the casket at the funeral home and decided to show the family
- Gail needed proof
- Mason gave Joey his ring
- Enter Jim Staggers
- Staggers came from Indianapolis with the funeral detail. Waited fro the “Honorable transfer”
- Stagger read the bible behind the hangar. Used the bible for comfort.
- Today as a return
- Details of the ritual
- The way lifting caskets gives information to guardsmen
- Keep their “game faces” despite what they learned from the casket
- Sight of children
- Staggers thought of his own wife and children
- Invited the family to approach the casket
- Family interacts with the casket.
- Staggers held back tears
- Carried the casket to the hearse
- Reflect on the ceremony
- Two of the people in the van would be sent to Iraq
Part Two
- Steve Green answered a call from The Pentagon
- Making plans with the Air Force
- How deceased soldiers used to be transported
- Campaign to change the way the Army handles deaths
- Kalitta had already done some work fro the Army
- Greene asked if Kalitta could handle all the flights of deceased soldiers in the same way he did Tucker and Manchaca
- Randomly assigned crews for the assignemtns
- Some routes have been flown many times
- First time the men flew into Seymour/
- They had 2 stops to make
- The smaller the town, the bigger the turnout
- Spoke about a funeral where neither parent showed up
- Crowds have grown over time
- Sergeant Betty checked the paperwork when they landed
- Joey’s family had been waiting for hours
- Waiting was the hardest part
- They transferred the casket off of the plane
- Pilots have gotten less emotional
- First time Major Cory Larsen was in the Port Mortuary at Dover Air Force Base
- Larson worked in the port
- Those that work there are protective of each other
- Karen Giles has worked there since 2003
- Description of the building
- She prepared Joey to be returned home
- First into the EOD Room
- Process of cleaning the body
- No personal effects on the body.
- The atrium of the building has a counseling and meditation section
- David Sparks talked about his conversations with people in the atrium
- Arrival of Sergeant Montgomery
- Autopsy
- Description of the autopsy
- Wounds were documented and recorded. Eyes were closed.
- Continuation of preparing the body
- Preserve Viewability
- Put them back together as best as they could
- The story of a mortician cleaning a dead mans hair tenderly
- Placed the body in a casket
- Story of a preparation of a body even though it was to be cremated
- Placement of the flag is the last step
- Enter Major General Richard P. Formica
- General officer must attend every funeral and greet every plan landing with dead soldiers in its hold
- Formica’s turn
- The entire group that is waiting for the plane to land
- Chaplain Sparks tells a story relating it to the bible
- K-loader enters the platform
- Honor guard marched out
- It doesn’t get easier
- Honor guard moves one case at a time
- Spark’s voice
- Speech / prayer by Sparks
- Cases are carried off the plane
- Sparks believed this is his most important work
- Formica gets choked up talking about the day
- The cases were taken to the Port Mortuary
Part Three
- Enter Sergeant Terry Slaght, Sergeant Montgomery’s friend
- Slaught was with Joey’s body in the plane
- Slaght arranged the flight after Joey passed away in action
- When Slaght realized it was Monty
- Listened to the drum of the helicopter as he thought about how he should have been there
- Arrival at the Baghdad International Airport
- Loaded Sergeant Montgomery onto the truck
- Transport from the airport to the base
- Review of the mission the night before
- Monty needed his Copenhagen to do any mission
- The mission was dangerous
- Monty’s squad was in the front
- Monty was teased for his age
- They started on their walk wearing night vision glasses
- They felt and saw bunkers
- They felt like they were being watched
- A blow was made
- Thought Ross was the one injured but it wasn’t
- They couldn’t find Monty
- They found his rifle but not him
- They found him and knew he was dead
- Night vision made it surreal
- They deemed it a KIA
- Took turns carrying him
- They couldn’t find all of him
- Everyone was surprised Ross was ok from the explosion
- The platoon was in shock
- They carried him for an hour
- They collected all of his things from his person and put him in a body bag
- Bostick thought about Joey’s family
- Bostick didn’t speak to Micah for two months
- He was brought to the morgue
- They prayed
- No one in the platoon could sleep
- They last time the platoon saw Joey was the next morning