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11/11/2009
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Staff photo by Andy Molloyfrom the Kennebec Journal
BUDGET CUTS ORDERED
Many happy returns in Richmond
Tax woes land on Whitefield
Rapist denied new trial
AUGUSTA MINDING A MINE
SPORT OF KINGS Falconry a blend of dedication and commitment
COLLEGE HOCKEY: Maine rallies but falls short against Boston College
COLLEGE ROUNDUP: Colby women win season opener at home tournament
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Kennebec Journal
from the Morning Sentinel
WEDDING BURGLAR JAILED
Youths talk Turkey Day
Plenty of free Thanksgiving meals available
Turkey prices make for happier holiday
Kennebec County Superior Court
POLICE
COLLEGE HOCKEY: Maine rallies but falls short against Boston College
COLLEGE ROUNDUP: Colby women win season opener at home tournament
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Morning Sentinel
Staff Writer
Their faces are expressionless, set rigidly as the stone gravemarkers surrounding them. Their movements are crisp, precise and exact.
They are the Maine Army National Guard Honor Guard, entrusted with giving the state's veterans and military service personnel a final salute.
Though any service member can join, the Honor Guard is not for everyone. All members go through training, and must be able in good physical shape to carry out the duties, which can include standing at attention for at least an hour.
Members can't preside at a military funeral until they receive their dress blues, and then have a dress inspection.
Whether the deceased is a retired veteran awarded the Purple Heart, or a young infantryman killed in action six months into his service, the level of respect remains the same, Honor Guard member Sgt. First Class Harold Maker, said.
The level of somberness is also the same, he added.
"I can't show emotion on my face," said Maker, a 15-year member. "No matter what, I must maintain my composure. It's harder for the younger guys, though. When we do an honorable transfer, it usually doesn't hit them until they put their hands on the casket, and then it overwhelms them."
Honor Guard members -- there are 15 full-time and 25 part-time members -- perform taps, fold the U.S. flag, and oversee honorable transfer of remains of deceased veterans.
Last year, they presided at 1,179 funerals, said retired U.S. Army Master Sgt. Frank Norwood, the military funeral honors coordinator for Maine.
The Honor Guard's duty became law in 2004, giving honorably discharged veterans buried in Maine the honors, Norwood said.
"This (law) is retroactive," Norwood said. "If a veteran did not receive honors at the time of his or her death, and the family wants it done, we'll do it. It's the final salute."
There are three state veteran cemeteries, with a fourth under construction in Springvale, said David Richmond, superintendent of the veteran cemetery system.
The oldest of these cemeteries, Maine Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Augusta, opened 1970.
Before that, veterans' families either sent the remains to national veterans' cemetery in New York, buried the deceased in a private family plot, or opted for burial in a municipal cemetery.
In 1981, Richmond said, a second veterans' cemetery opened a few miles away on Mt. Vernon Road.
It covers 98 acres and accommodates 35,000 gravesites, 3,580 of which are filled.
The other veterans cemetery was opened in Caribou in 2003. More than 370 people are buried there.
Veterans who received an honorable discharge or their spouses are eligible for burial in one of these, Richmond said. One need not be a resident of Maine.
Though headstones are uniform in appearance, the stories behind each stone is as unique as the veteran laid to rest there.
"There are a lot of (killed in action) vets," Richmond said. "And a lot who were given the Purple Heart, almost too many to number."
Richmond praised the Baldacci administration for taking "responsibility making sure we have resources for the perpetual care of our veterans' cemeteries. When cuts took place in other administrations, they were deep cuts and the cemeteries came first on the chopping block. I'm happy with the level of care that has been met."
Meghan V. Malloy -- 623-3811, ext. 431
mmalloy@centralmaine.com
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