Burial with military honors

The Daily World, Opelousas, La.: When a U.S. military veteran dies, he or she is entitled to be buried with military honors.

It is unfortunate that in recent years, it has become increasingly difficult to obtain active duty personnel to participate in veterans’ funerals. In the past month, there have been seven funerals for veterans in the Acadiana area, said Tom Green, commandant of the local chapter of the Marine Corps League, but only three had any of the elements of a military funeral.

The men and women who served this nation deserve better.

Members of several veterans’ groups got together recently at American Legion Post 69 to find a way to fill the void. They plan to form an honor guard who would supplement active duty personnel at the funerals, or in their absence, would provide full military honors ...

The goal is to have 19 veterans attend each funeral; Green hopes to get at least 38 volunteers, in case the group is called upon to serve at more than one funeral at the same time.

The group has a single goal: “We want to make sure not a single one is forgotten,” Green said.

We echo that sentiment.