Marc Troup | Posted May 20, 2022 11:00 AM
This is what I think about when I think about Memorial Day. It was early December 1985 towards the end of my AIT (Advanced Individual Training) at Fort Jackson South Carolina. That week I was selected to “volunteer” (Army joke) for a week long duty with the Funeral Detail. This detail would conduct funeral ceremonies (21 gun salute, flag presentation to family etc.) for any military member and retired military member that might die and be eligible for that benefit and request it in a three state area. The three state area was South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia. When I reported for duty with the other 8 guys that had been selected for the duty the Staff Sergeant who did this as his actual job in the Army explained that since it was peace time that we might do one to two funerals but there was also a chance we would do none at all.
About 45 minutes later the phone rang. After a few minutes the Sargent came out and told us that a C130 had crashed in Canada on its way back from the Sinai. We would do 12 funerals over the next 7 days driving in an army van across three states. I would have to stand at attention and watch widows and parents and small children cry and scream. One widow threw herself on the casket as it was being lowered into the ground. That is what I think about when I think about Memorial Day.
For more details on this tragic event you can go here: