01/16/2008

News / The Times Record

By Frank R. Norwood — Maine military funeral honors coordinator

The rendering of military funeral honors for United States Armed Forces veterans is a tribute that veterans and their families are now entitled to. It is a way to show our nation’s deep gratitude to those who, in times of war and peace, have faithfully defended our country.

Section 578 of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2000 requires the Department of Defense to provide, upon request, military funeral honors for eligible veterans.

The Maine Military Funeral Honors Program began performing such ceremonies for Maine’s veterans in late 2004. Since its inception, more than 2,300 ceremonies have been performed from Fort Kent to Kittery and eastern Canada.

According to the Maine Veteran’s Administration, Maine is losing nearly 4,000 veterans a year, (Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Army Air Corps and Merchant Marines).

This rate is expected to continue with very slow reductions through the year 2030.

Active-duty personnel, National Guard, Reserve and Merchant Marines who received an honorable discharge are now entitled to an appropriate military funeral honors ceremony performed by U.S. military active-duty service members.

Before the law passed, many veterans did not receive a ceremony or acknowledgement and appreciation for their service to their country. The Maine Military Funeral Honors Team is prepared to right this wrong by providing appropriate military honors to any honorably discharged veteran who was not honored at the time of death.

A family member need only call and request this service.

We have six military funeral honors trainers on the team who have all attended a two-week course and have been certified as instructors by Arlington National Cemetery. Veterans of Maine will receive a military funeral honors ceremony performed to the same high standard as those ceremonies being performed at Arlington National Cemetery. Maine veterans deserve no less than perfection.

I strongly encourage all veterans in Maine to allow these dedicated members of the United States military to perform this ceremony and to simply express our appreciation for their dedicated service to our country.

For more information about this program or military funeral honors in general, families and veterans may visit our Web site at www.funeralhonors.org or call the state coordinator in Augusta at 1-800-958-5967 toll free.