Honor guard provides opportunity for closure for family members at funerals of veterans

SARASOTA COUNTY –The Honor Guard always arrives at Sarasota National Cemetery a half-hour early, to prepare to give full military honors at a veteran’s funeral.

Under foreboding skies on May 20, the American Legion NO-VEL Post 159 Honor Guard is waved through to Shelter B at the cemetery, as family members for deceased veteran Otto Soechtig and his wife Isabel queued up near the entrance.

Retired U.S. Army Col. Norman MacLellan – who served in the Army for 30 years and earned a Silver Star, Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts during the Vietnam War – oversees the Post 159 Honor Guard, which still features a seven-member rifle squad and four-member color guard at Sarasota National and surrounding cemeteries, such as Venice Memorial Gardens.

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“One of the mottos of the American Legion is to take care of our veterans and their families,” MacLellan, 82, said. “I can’t think of a bigger honor than to make sure that they’re honored with military honors at their funeral.”

Otto Soechtig, who served in the Air Force for four years, met his wife, Isabel while in Germany. They both retired to Bradenton. She died at age 78 in April 2021; he died in March at 81.

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The Post 159 Honor Guard was joined at the service by Air Force Senior Airman Elisha McKinney and Senior Airman Brian Eisenbrey.

As the funeral procession arrived, MacLellan greeted Charles Soechtig, the couple’s eldest son.

The honor guard lined up at attention as Eisenbrey walked to the shelter carrying a flag and McKinney carried an urn with the cremains.

While Eisenbrey and McKinney unfolded the flag, MacLellan explained the honors ceremony.

The airmen prepared the flag – folding it 13 times – so it could be presented to Charles Soechtig who, as the eldest son, is the closest relative to Otto Soechtig.

The seven riflemen fired three volleys, totaling 21 shots – the gunshots were followed by the audible clinks as the brass fell to the pavement.

McKinney next played taps, with all veterans in attendance rendering a salute.

The guard then picked up the shell casings that MacLellan put in a little velvet bag, as Eisenbrey presented the flag to Soechtig, followed by MacLellan presenting the shell casings.

“I’m glad that the rain held off,” MacLellan said, just seconds before a rolling clap of thunder.

The guard packed up and departed as the funeral ceremony began.

The funeral ended just before the rains came.

No Veteran Forgotten

In 2021, the Honor Guard from Post 159 performed full military honors at 131 funerals for veterans ,as well as 16 other events, which could also include a performance by the color guard for flag raisings.

This year, through April, they have been at 42 funerals and eight other events.

Those other events also include No Veteran Forgotten ceremonies at Sarasota National Cemetery, in which full military honors are given for every veteran buried at the cemetery the previous month in a service where no one came to the funeral.

“We’ve had as few as 17 and as many as 40,” MacLellan said. “Do you believe that?“

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As part of the ceremony, the names of the veterans are read. This year, Post 159 performed at the ceremonies in January, March and April – alternating with the Honor Guard from American Legion Post 24 in Bradenton.

In most cases when a specific branch of the military is represented at a funeral, they will not fire the three-volley salute.

“They only do that for active duty who died on active duty – unless it’s a very senior officer,” MacLellan said.

Post 159 is one of the few honor guards that can field seven riflemen at a ceremony.

“One of the reasons we’ve got so busy is they are referring to us, if someone says they want full military honors,” McLellen said, then added that the rifle salute differs from the 21-gun salute which involves cannon fire. “They’re reserved for state affairs and stuff like that – we do the traditional three volleys by seven riflemen.”

At funerals where the specific branch of a veteran’s service is not represented, members of the Honor Guard will also fold and present the flag to the family and play taps.

Honor Guard members all volunteer their time to offer full military honors to deceased veterans and experience a range of emotions along with the mourners.

“You can’t imagine the feeling that we get when we see these people walking past us sobbing and thanking us for honoring their loved one,” said retired Army Spec. Henry Arent, 85.

Retired Army Staff Sgt. Al Angelastri, 88, added, “Especially when they blow taps – a lot of women, tears come to their eyes – it gives me a chill when a guy’s playing taps for a veteran.”

Angelastri, like MacLellan, has been a member of the honor guard for about 12 years.

Arent, a relative rookie, will have been part of the guard for a year in October.

“I got out of the service in 1965,” he said. “You can imagine how long it's been since I handled an M1 so they retrained me and it took a while.”

MacLellan, who has the most interaction with family members at funerals, said, “It’s so important to them that we’ve honored their loved one – which we didn’t even know– it’s just so important.”

“That’s why the guys are so enthusiastic to do it.”

A sense of closure

MacLellan noted that some funerals are large, as with the one for Soechtig but they have also conducted honors services for one man, who brought the remains of his father in a motorcycle bag.

“It definitely brings closure to them,” MacLellan said “They feel that they have done the best they could for their family in a burial ceremony. It just brings so much to them.”

The Honor Guard at Post 159 consists of about 26 members who alternate at services – including two new ones that just joined in the past few weeks.

Some of the volunteers attend five or six services a week.

“Most of our veterans right now are Vietnam era veterans,” MacLellan noted. “The American Legion will take in anybody who has served since 1941.”

MacLellan, who occasionally jokes that he’s looking for his replacement – said he anticipates younger veterans of the Persian Gulf and Afghanistan wars to join as they get older.

“The younger ones, they have families, they have jobs and they don’t join veterans organizations until they’re retired.”

On some occasions when MacLellan stops at a grocery store while still in uniform, people who see him ask why.

When he explains that he’d been to a funeral, they usually offer condolences.

“I just tell them we’re very proud to do it, we’re presenting military honors,” MacLellan said. “As far as I’m concerned it’s my duty as a veteran to honor other veterans.”

Earle Kimel primarily covers south Sarasota County for the Herald-Tribune and can be reached at earle.kimel@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription to the Herald-Tribune.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: American Legion Post 159 Honor Guard at Sarasota National Cemetery