This is Marine Lieutenant Colonel Strobl’s account of escorting the remains of Lance Corporal Chance Phelps home to be buried, as posted by milblogger Blackfive. EFL. Read the whole thing. You will be moved.
Most of the remains are taken from Dover AFB by hearse to the airport in Philadelphia for air transport to their final destination. When the remains of a service member are loaded onto a hearse and ready to leave the Dover mortuary, there is an announcement made over the building’s intercom system. With the announcement, all service members working at the mortuary, regardless of service branch, stop work and form up along the driveway to render a slow ceremonial salute as the hearse departs. Escorts also participated in each formation until it was their time to leave.
On this day there were some civilian workers doing construction on the mortuary grounds. As each hearse passed, they would stoop working and place their hard hats over their hearts. This was my first sign that my mission with PFC Phelps was larger than the Marine Corps and that his family and friends were not grieving alone. . . .
"Tell Britain, ye who mark this monument,
Faithful to her we fell, and rest content."
--The War Memorial, Southport, England |