The Wilmington VFW Honor Guard~~~Who are they - What are they

By Mr. Rodney Hamon

(1932-2013)

   The first question is easy enough to answer; they are your friends and neighbors, the local pastor, the farmer, the power plant operator, the construction worker, the little league umpire, the postal worker, and the geologist. The ties that bind these men together are that they are all Veterans of the Foreign Wars from WWII to Iraq. Some are recipients of the Silver and Bronze Stars, Purple Hearts and Combat Infantryman's Badge, and President Unit Citations. Heroes are all in the eyes of their comrades. 

   What they take a good deal more explaining. They came home to raise families and help build our nation into the most powerful country in the world, but that wasn't enough; something else was needed to fill the empty place in their souls. Too many friends and comrades had been left behind in the fields of a dozen countries who had not been afforded the Military Honors that were rightfully theirs.

   Born of a need to recognize the passing of a brother-in-arms, the Wilmington Post 5422 Veterans of Foreign Wars formed an Honor Guard. Their mission is to perform a Military Funeral service that includes a rifle volley, taps, and the presentation of a folded flag to the veteran's surviving loved one, either at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery or in our local cemeteries. And in addition, perform a public service when asked to do so, to include posting and retrieval of the National colors at certain ceremonies, raising of the colors at baseball games, displaying the colors in parades, performing flag education services for school and scout groups, honoring local returning war veterans and providing that service which may require a Military Honor Guard. 

   The men of the Honor Guard, past and present, have performed their duties with outstanding loyalty, in the dead of winter or the scorching heat of summer, asking of the veteran neither creed nor color. Ask a dozen Guardsmen why they do what they do and you are likely to get a dozen different answers. Ask them what they did in the war and you will get no answer. These men are dwindling in numbers, ranging in ages from 45 to 86. New recruits are hard to find; many would like to perform, but it's hard to take a day off in the current environment. Waiting till they retire to become full-time members of the Honor Guard may be too late.

   It has been noted that most resolute have shed tears at the wall of the young when taps were played at the passing of a grandfather, but they perform among markers in stone in a field of honor.