Editorial: Memorial Squad offers comfort for families, honor for veterans

"To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan."

This quotation from Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address serves as the motto of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

It adorns a wall near a welcoming full-size bronze sculpture of Lincoln at the national cemetery that bears his name on 982 acres of the former Joliet Arsenal.

There, eventually some 400,000 people will find their final resting place, helped along by an honor guard, taps, a 21-gun salute and a folded burial flag.

Our Susan Sarkauskas profiled some of the people who give of their time so those who will be buried at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery have a proper send-off.

Most members of the Memorial Squad are veterans themselves. Some merely witnessed the power of a service for a relative who served. All are volunteers with a deep appreciation of the meaning of honor and commitment.

It's been more than 60 years since George Anthos left the Army, but for the past 15 years he has put on a uniform every week to perform this solemn duty. He's still doing so at 83 and has no plans to stop.

"We have a code in the military of 'No man left behind,'" he said. "It's my way of bringing veterans home for the last time."

Burial in a national cemetery is open to all members of the armed forces who have served honorably for a certain amount of time. A spouse, minor children and in some cases unmarried adult children who have disabilities also qualify. The list goes on.

It doesn't matter whether one person shows up for a service or 1,000 do. Everyone gets the same treatment.

Roughly three dozen people from the Memorial Squad escort people on the final leg of their journey. Some play a bugle, others fire the rifles, others fold and present the flag to survivors.

What great comfort these people offer the survivors, especially at a time when more veterans are dying not in war but because of it, as a result of addiction or at their own hand.

Today we honor the volunteers who honor the dead.

It is our fervent hope that when George Anthos leaves this earth to be buried at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery there will be those at the ready to see him home with all of the solemnity and respect he has afforded so many.

There are many ways in which you can volunteer to work with the National Cemetery Administration. Visit https://www.cem.va.gov/cem/VolunteerNCA.asp for details.