RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Thanks to the efforts of volunteers, most of them aging military veterans, about half of veterans nationwide receive military funeral honors.
That's a marked improvement from just five years ago, when only 2 percent received such honors, said Paul Adkins, chairman of the Riverside National Cemetery's support committee.
About half of the cemetery's 41 funerals a day receive military honors. There aren't enough volunteers to attend to them all, Adkins said.
Helping close the gap, the cemetery's Memorial Honor Detail has volunteered 89,394 hours since its inception in 1996.
Today, 25 teams from the cemetery perform military honors five days a week. The detail strives to honor all veterans buried at the cemetery, but even after performing 6,629 services, some haven't been recognized.
The detail is made up of military veterans, groups from ROTC units and active-duty military personnel from surrounding bases.
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs Web site, federal law mandates that every eligible veteran, upon the family's request, receives military funeral honors, to include folding and presenting the U.S. burial flag and the playing of Taps.
Federal law defines a military funeral honors detail as consisting of two or more uniformed military persons. The Department of Defense program calls for funeral home directors to request the military honors.
But too often, the request never comes.
"There was a Pearl Harbor survivor and 20-year veteran who did not receive honors. His sons folded the flag, because they did not have the resources to find a detail in time," Adkins said. "Although his sons were both military, it should have been an honor detail (attending)."
The honor details are made up of volunteers, most of whom are vets.
"Our oldest member is 82-years-old and our youngest is in high school," said Gerry Bright, lead dispatcher for the honor detail.
The volunteers perform 10 to 17 services a day in a variety of uniforms. Many retired veterans wear black or brown pants with a white shirt.
"Some of our retired Marines, Navy and Air Force members wear the uniforms of their branch of service," Bright said.
The playing of taps and presentation of a folded American flag stems from the dating back to the Revolutionary War.
According to the Independence Hall Association's U.S. history Web site, the folded flag, which looks like a cocked hat, is a reminder of the soldiers who served under General George Washington and the sailors and Marines under Captain John Paul Jones. They were followed by their comrades and shipmates in preserving the rights, privileges and freedoms we enjoy today.