A week ago last Friday I rode my GoldWing down to the Veteran’s Cemetery at Fort Harrison. That is the military outpost in Helena, /\/\onTana! The Fallen Soldier Project had located the remains of two Veterans in Ronan (Private First Class Clayton Sandknop and Master Sergeant Paul Ploskunak), left in the mortuary. They were brought to Fort Harrison for a full military honors burial. For more information on the two veterans, go to: Vets’ ashes carried from Ronan to Helena.
It was a beautiful day for the ceremony.
(All photos were taken Aperture Priority at f8 and ISO 100,
using my Canon Digial XT with a 17-40mm L lens)
Click to Enlarge, BACK to return.
The arrival of the Hearse with Honor Guard.
The remains are presented to the Honor Guard…
…and then then escorted to the burial site.
The fellows in red with the blue leggings and breech clouts, are an Honor Guard from the Flathead Reservation, where both Veterans are from. Here is a closeup:
They are about to fold the US Flag over the remains. The people in front with all of the flags are Patriot Guardsmen (a nation-wide group formed to prevent some seriously disturbed members of a church in Kansas, I think, from disrupting funerals for fallen soldiers coming home form Iraq and Afghanistan), and there may be some American Legion members, too. Just of the far left you can see the blue shirts of the rifle team. who provided a twenty-one gun salute.
Here is an overall view, from the rifle team to the horse soldiers.
This photo is of the horse soldier guard as they left, including the empty saddle and reversed boots. The nearest soldier would have shocked more than a few old time Cavalry: He’s a SHE!!! I left this photo at 1440×960 for wallpaper if anyone would like to use it, and I made it into a sepia tone version. I am not sure I am completely happy with the way it turned out.
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~Curtis in /\/\onTana! {!-{>
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