Marines mobilize for last salute

[thedrifter]

Marines mobilize for last salute
Submitted by: MCB Camp Pendleton
Story Identification Number: 2004212154629
Story by Lance Cpl. Jeremy L. Gadrow



MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.(February 12, 2004) -- "Ready," and the selector lever on an M-16A2 service rifle clicks to semi. "Aim," and the rifles are raised to the shoulder at a 45-degree angle. "Fire," and the shots ring out above the quiet sobs of grieving family members.

The 21-gun salute is a tribute given by funeral details to honor those who've served and died.

"The Marine Corps offers funeral details to honor those who've gone before us, done their duty and gotten their 'final call,'" said Staff Sgt. Ramiro M. Olmos, funeral detail staff noncommissioned officer-in-charge for Headquarters and Support Battalion, Marine Corps Base.

"It's an honor to be called to funeral duty," added Olmos, 27, a native of Mount Shasta.

"Not many people get to do it," he said.

On Camp Pendleton, 14 Marines at a time are picked for funeral duty every four months.

Seven Marines are used for the detail, the remaining seven are alternates.

Once a week, they get together to practice for an actual funeral.

"We practice every week for two hours a day until the Marines get better with the movements," Olmos said.

"After the Marines know what they're doing, we shorten the practices to one hour a week," he said.

Movements involved in a funeral detail include basic marching and the more-complicated firing of the 21-gun salute.

The mood of the ceremony requires a pace slower than usual, Olmos said. Not all funerals are the same, according to Olmos. Some are faster than others and some leave out elements of the ceremony.

"Every funeral is different. It just depends on what the family wants," Olmos said. "Sometimes all we have to perform (is the 21-gun salute). Other times the detail will march the casket from the hearse to the lowering platform, fold the flag, present the flag and then perform the 21-gun salute."

The ceremony is dictated by family's wishes and the situation. Olmos said the Corps' support of funerals for departed Marines reaffirms the commitment to the brotherhood.

"Most families who request a funeral detail request it because that Marine talked a lot about the phrase once a Marine, always a Marine," Olmos said. "I think the detail kind of brings a little piece of that family member back to them. It also lets them know that the Marine Corps is standing right there with them during a time of great need."

"It's nice to know that we're helping the families get through their loss by being on this duty," said Cpl. Noe H. Zapata, 21, from Manassas, VA., Range Operations Division administration chief.

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2...91?opendocument


Sempers,

Roger