A Burial at Arlington

[thedrifter]

A Burial at Arlington
Written by John Armor
Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Before Thursday, I had never attended any ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. On that day, we went to Arlington for the inurnment of the ashes of a great friend, colleague, and teacher, Robert Carleson. I’ve written about Bob before, and any reader can find several obituaries on him from months ago, when he died. Suffice to say, Bob did more for the long-term well-being of the United States than many who have served as President.

This column is about the very simple, but very powerful, ceremony with which America lays its heros to rest at Arlington, both the well-known heroes, and those who are known primarily to their family, friends, and shipmates.

I say shipmates because Bob was a Marine who served in Korea – mostly on shore, because he was a spotter for naval gunfire. So, the last words the chaplain in his navy dress whites, spoke at the grave side ceremony was, “To my shipmate, may you have fair winds and following seas.”

The ceremony began in the chapel at Ft. Myers. Only about a hundred people were present in the small but elegant building on the base, just a few steps from a side entrance to Arlington. Normally, the prelude music is an organ solo, but not here. The last music before the ceremony was the Navy hymn, “Eternal Father, Strong to Save,” from a Navy Band just outside the chapel.

The ceremony was short, and on a precise schedule as are all things military. Three hymns, a reading, and a eulogy by former Attorney General Ed Meese. Then, we followed a horse-drawn caisson and the Navy Honor Guard as they followed the caisson into Arlington.

I watched the faces of the young men and women in the Honor Guard and Band. Few if any of them had been born by 1984, when Bob Carleson left the White House staff. They probably knew only two things about the man they were helping to bury, his name and the fact that he had served honorably in the U.S. Marines.

I was most impressed by the precision and solemnity these young men and women brought to their task. For those who have never seen it, the ceremony by which an American flag is folded into a blue triangle with stars showing, for presentation by the commanding officer to the family, is elaborate, with every gesture done in ways that may trace back centuries in military lore.

It was also interesting to watch the faces of the Americans from all walks of life who were among the thousands who visit Arlington, every day. They, like the Honor Guard, had no idea about the life of the man who was being carried to his final rest. But they stopped, and watched, and experienced the simple dignity that America shows to those who have served her, with no distinction between those who died in the nation’s service, and those who lived in service to the nation for more than five decades, and the families of many of those.

The team of riflemen fired four volleys. The service seemed to be at an end when Bob’s ashes were placed in the mausoleum, one of a dozen which are being built to receive 40,000 Americans, as time passes. But, as we were walking away from the mausoleum, a lone piper appeared, playing “Amazing Grace,” as we left that place on a knoll, overlooking Washington, D.C., from edge of what was once the estate of Robert E. Lee.

The funeral service for a man whose name never made headline news, might not seem to be an important occasion. And yet, its importance lies in that fact. This is how America treats her sons and daughters – all of them – who have served and then come to rest at Arlington. There was no less dignity and honor in this ceremony for Bob Carleson than there was in the ceremonies for presidential burials which I have seen on television in my decades.

And that simple fact says a great deal about Bob Carleson, and about the nation he loved so long and served so well.

Ellie

[cplbrooks]

I have been blessed with many honors while in the Marine Corps to include working for the President. None of those honors even come close to the honor of being allowed to be one of the body bearers of Lcpl. Higgins during his funeral. He was killed in combat in July of this year. I didnt know Lcpl Higgins but it still hit me hard. I felt like i was burying my own brother. I still think about him and his family every day. I have some of his pics in my profile. I dont know how anybody can make it through a military funeral with dry eyes.