Outline

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