Thoughts at a funeral for a stranger

Funny thing about that, Art.

I buried a lot of friends in my 26 + years in the Air Force, and always felt
that the turn out was more for the living than for the dead. There is
something about the military fraternity that does that to you. Read the
first chapter of "The Right Stuff".

Now, I play bagpipes, and so I am requested to play at a LOT of funerals.
Many, if not most are for military veterans, and only one has been for
someone I knew personally. I feel I have to do it, because the family, the
friends and the "community" all want some feeling of closure.

Last week I rode to an out of town funeral with the Honor Guard from our
local AF base. Interesting to hear them talk about it. They do five, six
funerals a week, and they knew none of the deceased, yet they show up, not
because they have to, but because they are proud of their Air Force, and
know that they are carrying on a tradition.

It matters not the name of your gunner, only that you were there, just as
someone will be there for all the rest.

--
Les
F-4C(WW),E,D,G(WW)/AC-130A/MC-13E EWO ret.

"ArtKramr" wrote in message
...
Thoughts at a Funeral For a Stranger


On the 5th of January 1945 we hit the road junction at Houfalize during
the
Battle of the Bulge. On this mission there was only one casualty, a radio
gunner who was killed by a single piece of flak.I was not on that mission
and I
never knew the gunner who was killed. I choose not to reveal his identity
now.
But I went to his funeral as did everyone in the 344th.. I didn't know
what he
looked like or what kind of a person he was. Only about a fourth of
everyone
present was from his squadron, which meant that at his funeral, he was
being
surounded more by strangers than friends. As we all stood there in our
class
A's, I couldn' t help but think, that at a time like this, he was a
stranger to
most all of us. And if it were I lying there, would I also be surrounded
by
mourners whom I never knew, and who never knew me. I was overtaken by a
great
sadness about the nature of death in war. And in many ways, that sadness
has
never left me to this day. And I wondered of I died would there be a
mourner
who would think the same of me?. Or is it that this is just the nature of
the
beast and comes to all of us in the same way.?
Arthur Kramer
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer



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