The hearse arrives at the cemetery and stops as close to the open grave as possible.  The back door opens and the casket team, dressed in their Class A uniforms,  immaculate with razor sharp creases and all awards and decorations displayed,  secures the flag-draped coffin and prepares either to carry it to the grave or place it on a cart to roll it there.  The Chaplain, or the Burial Detail's Officer in Charge (OIC) if a civilian pastor is conducting the graveside service, leads the team with the coffin to the grave.  The casket is set down and the flag is secured;  then the Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC) ensures the flag is secure in its proper place, centered on the casket with the blue field over the heart of the deceased;  then he takes his place.  All actions and movements are at slower than normal pace.

At the conclusion of remarks by the Chaplain or civilian pastor, the NCOIC steps up to the casket and renders a hand salute.  This signals the NCOIC of the Rifle Salute Team to begin the Rifle Salute.  He calls the team of seven riflemen to attention and commands "Half Right...FACE".   The team faces 45 degrees to their right.  The Rifle Salute Team  NCOIC commands, "READY" and the team raise their rifles to their shoulders and angle up about 45 degrees.  The command "FIRE" (no command "Aim") is given and the riflemen all fire at once (hopefully they do;  this requires a LOT of practice to get right) and immediately recover to the "Port Arms" position (and at the same time they cock their rifles,  preparing them for the next shot).  The command "READY" is repeated and  the cycle is repeated.  Three volleys are fired in this manner.  At the end of the third volley, the Rifle Salute Team commands the team to face half-left and then "Present ARMS". 

The command to "Present Arms" is the signal for the bugler to play "Taps".  At the conclusion of "Taps", the casket team removes the flag from the casket and folds it in the tradional triangle configuration.  The flag is given to the NCOIC and the Casket Team marches from the grave.  The NCOIC passes the folded flag to the OIC who then approaches the widow or mother or whoever represents the family at the graveside.  He kneels on one knee before the widow and presents the flag to her.  Most teams will have three spent cartridges that have been polished to a high shine to present with the flag.  If it is an Army burial detail, the OIC says, "This flag is presented on behalf of a grateful nation and the United States Army as a token of appreciation for your loved one's honorable and faithful service."

This statement is basically the same for each branch of the Armed Forces, except that the other services include the President of the United States with the grateful nation.

The remainder of the burial detail leaves the site and the OIC will often escort the next of kin from the grave;  the team loads on the bus and avoids mingling with the family and mourners.  After everyone has left the graveside, there is still one soldier left alone to stand vigil over the grave until the casket is lowered and covered.

This ceremony may vary slightly from service to service and place to place, but it is essentially the same for all US services world- wide.

For many veterans, especially those of Korea and Vietnam, this is the only honor that has ever been paid to them. 

It seems today that the Nation's gratitude stems from the veteran finally dying and stopping the drain he represents on the president's slush fund.  Disregarding all that the vet had done to earn the dwindling benefits, the current adminstration is once again sharpening up for deeper cuts to vets, retired military, and the older Americans in general.  The danger of electing a president with no military experience and a disdain for the military is that he does not honor the commitments made to those who served and in some cases, saved the very nation whose gratitude is claimed but not evident.  Our president apparently has no understanding of what veterans have done to EARN  those benefits.  They are not "entitlements"...they are a DEBT...a debt owed to those vets by a government that used them, promised them the world,  and then kicked them to the curb when they were no longer needed...now the government acts like the vets are a bunch of sniveling beggars, whining, with their hands out for more than they deserve.  It is beyond upsetting;  I am furious and deeply saddened.  Your president has roughly outlined his plan to pay for the newest slush fund he is creating under the guise of "job creation".  He will go after those who have had the audacity to live long enough to draw their retirement benefits.  His health-care solutions for old folks was to take the pain pills and go home to die.  Now he wants to increase the cost of those pain pills.  I admit that I have vested interest in the current debate.  I also admit that the TriCare (the military's healthcare 'insurance') is a good deal, even with the proposed increases.  But it isn't what it was promised to be. 

Over the 26 years of my military career (spread out over 29.9 years) it was explained to me many times that one of the offsets for the low pay we received in the military was the continuing benefits we would receive once we retired.  "You can still use the commissary, the PX, all the facilities on post like the gym and the recreation centers...and there's the free medical and dental for life..."  In recent years all the services have denied that the "free medical and dental for life" was ever promised as an incentive to retention, but I am here to testify that it was;  to me, to many of my friends, and to thousands and thousands of others.  When I finally retired, many of those promised benefits had changed or disappeared althogether;  others had been watered down to the point where they hardly mattered anymore. 

But the erosion of all these benefits is somewhat beside the point.  The real shame is that the nation takes full advantage of all the protections the military provides at great sacrifice and then goes back on its promises.  Like the town of Hamlin - once the problem was remedied - the town reconsidered the deal they had made with the Piper and decided his price was too high.  Our current wars aren't even resolved yet and the government is already looking to stiff past warriors.  The money that should have been set aside for such commitments has been squandered on foolishness.  So, for the sake of urine-soaked crucifixes, shrimp on treadmills, bridges no one needs or wants, and a state that has almost every major facility named after their beloved porkmeister senator, the veterans and retired military are also expected to sacrifice their promised benefits.

It is such a one-sided proposition;  those of us who served do not have to option of withdrawing our service.  The deed is done.  We put ourselves in harm's way.  We weren't in it for the money.  We didn't solicit the promises of our grateful nation;  they were waved in front of us and given as a means to help the politicians pretend it was a good trade.  For many it wasn't.  Those who died fighting for the country can't change their minds...they made a commitment and they kept it.  Our government also made a commitment... will they be allowed, once again, to wheedle and whine and weasel their way out of it?  We are a nation fast on is way to losing its soul.  Our capital is full of hucksters, cheats, and lowlifes;  deceitful,  greedy, immoral, calling good bad and bad good.  How long can we endure it?

My favorite patriotic song is "America the Beautiful".  We always  sang just the first verse in grade school, but the rest of the song is very meaningful:

"Oh beautiful for pilgrim feet whose stern impassioned stress

A thoroughfare of freedom beat

Across the wilderness!

America, America, God mend thine every flaw

Confirm thy soul in self-control

Thy liberty in law

Oh beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife

Who more than self their country loved

And mercy more than life...

America, America, may God thy gold refine

'Til all success be nobleness

And every gain divine

Oh beautiful for patriot dream that sees beyong the years

Thine alabaster cities gleam

Undimmed by human tears

America, America, God shed his grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea"

--Katherine Lee Bates

The bus leaves in a plume of diesel smoke, taking the burial team back to their base.  The backhoe drives back to the maintenance garage, the operator will put it away and head for home.  Having put the sod in place, the grounds crew walks back to the office to punch out and go their separate ways.  They have all done their duty here and have earned their rest.  The silence over the cemetery is complete.  The soldier in the fresh grave, too, having done his duty, has earned his rest.