A Veteran's Last Honor

It was 20 degrees as the Arlington Heights VFW Post 981 Color Guard waited at St. Mary's Cemetery in Buffalo Grove with their rifles and bugle.

The Color Guard were there to honor a fellow veteran with a 21-gun volley and the playing of taps. None of the Color Guard had served with Paul Eubanks who was being buried that day. But any honorably discharged veteran is deserving of such a ceremony. This was the fourth ceremony for the Guard this winter.

If contacted, the Fort Leonard Wood Casualty Assistance Center will arrange for military personnel to perform the folding of the American flag for all veterans. If a veteran is being buried in a national cemetery like Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, the flag folding and a rifle volley and taps are provided by a permanent volunteering color guard. VFW Post 981 provides the volley and taps for departed honorably discharged veterans (all within a reasonable distance) choosing not to be buried in a national cemetery.

With the advanced age of WWII and Korean War veterans, and most Vietnam War veterans already in their 70's, each day a number of them pass. There are currently 12 members in the VFW Post 981 Color Guard. At a minimum it takes four members to provide a proper salute - three rifles shooting and a bugler to play taps. VFW Post 981 Color Guard expects its services will be required more and more in the future.