My wife buried her father today John Cushing 1/16/02 and I wanted to make a comment.  He was a WWII veteran of the Coast Guard and served in the Philippines.  By chance I mentioned to the funeral director that he was a member of the local VFW here.  I remember him picking up the kids when they were little and taking them to see Santa each Holiday Season. 

        I’m writing this because the VFW came to the wake and gave a prayer service and remembrance and at the burial had a military firing squad with taps and burial flag being given to my wife, his oldest daughter representing the family.  He died in Texas and his last request was to be brought back home to rest so his friends and associates could pay their last respects.

        The point behind this writing is to say how special a veteran’s death is, which is as special as their life was.  My son was impressed by the ceremonies and it touched me to know I belong to this group of people.  I have been on burial details and watches during wakes and funerals and knew as a group we were doing something “special” but never realized how much love and peace and respect we were giving and getting in return. 

        You should all belong to a group; inform your love ones, a simple guard or ceremony is what separates us from the others.  We are special and deserve this kind of treatment.  Anything less would be a shame.  The BVV are still a working membership and it’s hard sometimes to make burials but we all try and I thank you and I especially thank the VFW Fidelity Post 1011, 20 Stevens Street for what they did for “one of their own” and my wife and family!

Sincerely,

Richard Moulton

Finance Officer, BVV

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