His life was much, much too short and the latter part filled with trouble and suffering. He suffered from depression and PTSD, having seen many of the same things I have - but he did not have the support and medical help which I was fortunate to receive.
He suffered in silence for years, while I and his other comrades in arms did our best to help. His family had left him behind many years ago, unable to either understand or cope with his problems. These past few years he also began to deteriorate physically as well, making it even harder for him to carry on. I tried everything I could to get him help, but he was deathly afraid of hospitals; his fear of being institutionalized a byproduct of his family’s past attitude toward him. And not being legally his family I was not able push him into the care he needed.
So now I have yet another funeral to plan, another eulogy to give, and another grave to visit. I will miss you my brother, but we will see each other again. Save me a seat at the bar, for I will be along soon enough.
I know your life
On earth was troubled
And only you could know the pain
You weren't afraid to face the devil
You were no stranger to the rain
Go rest high on that mountain
Son, your work on earth is done
Yes, your work on this earth is done. It is too bad that so few remember.
Absent comrades.
Comments
I am so sorry
I am so sorry for your loss, Dallas.
These days, whenever I go to funerals, regardless of the music that’s actually selected, I find myself hearing Annie Lennox.
Don’t say we have come now to the end.
White shores are calling
You and I will meet again.
Into the West
— Emma
Unfortunately for me…….
The song that always comes to mind at a funeral is Taps, played by a lone bugler following the traditional three rifle volleys. And no matter how many times I have been exposed to rifle fire, those volleys always make me jump - even though I know they are coming, they always cut me to the bone. Between friends and family, it seems like most of the funerals I attend have a flag draped coffin.
In my family, part of the funeral tradition has always been a lone piper playing Amazing Grace during the church service, with the military honors then rendered afterward at the graveside. Something held over from my family’s Scottish roots.
I have requested a change to this for my own funeral when it eventually happens - my wife and children have the instructions and have promised to carry them out as requested. For me, the piper will be stationed on a hill overlooking the family plot (yes, we have one, and yes, there are already spots for my spouse and I) and will play Flowers of the Forest after the full military honors have been rendered at the graveside. The song has always been one of my favorites, a soothing lament, and the notes of a lone piper will carry well over the cemetery from the hilltop in the peace following the traditional three volleys and the playing of Taps. Just a little tune to settle my soul after the crash of the guns and the call of the bugle.
D. Eden
“Hier stehe ich; ich kann nicht anders. Gott helfe mir.”
Dum Vivimus, Vivamus
Beautiful thoughts
Most of the places I was stationed, the bugles were on tape but, one place we did have a piper. It's a proper way to say goodbye to someone.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
One of my former team…….
Qualified as a member of the USMC Drum and Bugle Corps. He has filled the role for numerous military funerals. With his help, I have always been able to find a way to have a military bugler when needed if he wasn’t able to be there.
Two of my nephews are also Marines, and they have asked me on several occasions to supply them with a bugler. It has been my personal experience that those who are qualified to fill the role are usually more than willing to do so, although a few times I had to help out with the logistics involved.
D. Eden
“Hier stehe ich; ich kann nicht anders. Gott helfe mir.”
Dum Vivimus, Vivamus
Condolences
Condolences, Dallas - and hugs if you are in need of one (or more!). <3
so sorry for your loss
huggles.
As We Age
Old friends and comrades disappear into the realms of memory. They live while you remember them.
Perhaps RIP is the best you can wish them, especially if their life was filled with nightmares.
Lest we forget.
As we get older
we find ourselves graveside with increasing regularity. For some reason, most of my friends down the years have been older than me which means i've lost far too many before i even thought they were of an age. Some i've mourned hard, others less so but they are all missed and remembered, shared experiences, some good and some maybe less good. Age and disease wait for no one, remember the dead but life is for the living so don't spend too much time in the past.
Madeline Anafrid Bell
May all Beings ...
May all Beings be Happy.
May all Beings be Healthy.
May all Beings be Safe.
May all Beings have the conditions for Happiness, Health, Safety.
May all Beings be Remembered.
And may all Beings be Loved, in this World and in the Next