Honoring our veterans

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Tuesday, October 11th. This is WORLD Radio and we’re glad you’re here.

Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Honoring our Veterans.

You may already be thinking about how you’ll pay tribute this year to the men and women who have served our country.

November 11th is Veterans Day. But WORLD’s Myrna Brown met a group of volunteers committed to serving military heroes and their families—year round.

MYRNA BROWN CORRESPONDENT: Other than the occasional hum from the cicadas, it's a quiet morning at the Alabama State Veterans Memorial Cemetery.

HOWTON: I don’t see 5-A…

Two months ago, Diane Howton buried her husband here, United States Navy Veteran, Burl Huit Howton, Jr.

HOWTON: He was aboard the USS Hornet and had two tours in Vietnam.

The slender, 73-year-old grandmother is anxious to see her late husband’s new burial plaque. As she searches for his name etched in marble, sweet memories from several weeks earlier flood her thoughts: Fellow vets standing sharp and crisp at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery, in shiny shoes and dark blues.

XO OFFICER: Honor Guard Ten Hut

DIANE HOWTON: I told my grandson. I said the honor guard is here.

XO OFFICER: Present Arms

DIANE HOWTON: And it made me cry. I thought, my sweet man is being honored by the military.

XO OFFICER: Half Right Face Ready, Aim, Fire, Aim, Fire, Aim…

DIANE HOWTON: I had tears just rolling down, when they did their 21 gun salute.

XO OFFICER: Recover. Present Arms (taps plays)

DIANE HOWTON: Oh my, when the bugle was played I don’t think there was a dry eye. I wanted to hug every one of them.

Navy Veteran Henry Sowell remembers that day well.

HENRY SOWELL: First of all, we’re honored to be there. It’s a privilege that none of us take for granted.

Sowell is one of the founding members of the Armed Forces Honor Guard. It’s a private, Army-certified organization. Its members are all veterans, representing the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guard. And they all get along!

SOWELL: We cut up, we clown and we carry on. But when it’s time to perform our service, we’re dead serious about what we do.

The group promotes patriotism and provides color guards for various events. But its primary mission is to serve other veterans and their families during their times of greatest need.

SOWELL: I’ve done as many as nine funerals in a week and then we’ll have a week or a week and a half where we won’t have anything.

Last year they served in 176 local military funerals. Today is their training day.

SOWELL TO MEMBERS: It’s like this…You want one star at the top, three across the middle and five across the bottom. That’s what they call a perfect flag. Ok, let’s go ahead and get started.

Twice per month, team members hone their skills. There’s bugle training, rifle volley drills, and what some consider the most difficult task: the folding and presentation of the flag. The flag is one of the highest honors bestowed on a veteran for honorable and faithful service to our country. Facing each other with about 11 feet between them, Larry Rutherford and Len Barker start folding and tucking.

LARRY TO SOWELL: Ok, now hold on just a second. You do a flip to come down…

Rutherford served in the Air Force. He’s the stuffer, the person responsible for tucking the flag. Barker, a Marine, is the flag folder. To present a perfect flag, the two must work together. Everything matters. Where you put your hands…

SOWELL INSTRUCTION: Don’t pull your hand out too fast because you’ll take the flag out with you.

Your feet…

AUDIO: [Both of you take a half step back now]

Even your eyes give your partner important clues.

TRAINING: He’s looking at my eyes and I’m looking at where I think he needs to fix it.

Twenty-three men and women serve as volunteers on this honor guard. Most are retired. The youngest is 51 and the oldest is Army veteran, Randall Ware. He’ll be 92 in November.

RANDALL WARE: And I love to serve the country.

Ware and his comrades are praying younger veterans with flexible schedules will step up to the honor guard. It’s an opportunity for them to once again serve their country by serving families like Diane Howton’s. Here’s retired Air Force pilot, Don Stuart.

DON STUART: Our idea is that when they see us trying that hard, that will translate into a sense that we really appreciate what their loved one did.

Diane Howton says mission accomplished!

HOWTON: How precious that was to my family. And when they folded the flag and handed me the flag…I had his flag framed. And it will be in his study with all of his military things.

Back at the cemetery, she finally spots the marker bearing the name of her beloved husband of 56 years.

HOWTON: (Gasps)... oh… oh… oh….oh…(sobs) oh my sweet boy…

AUDIO: [TAPS]

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Myrna Brown in Spanish Fort, Alabama.

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