Throughout the service, Shelly was comforted by the two fathers she sat between. They held her tight between them. Their strong arms assured her everything would be OK.
The service ended. Shelly remembered none of it. Her pain blocked everything from memory. The two fathers helped her stand and supported her to the waiting car. At the cemetery, they led her to a waiting chair. She sat in shock. Family gathered around the grave. Marsha began to cry. Shelly’s mother walked up, “I’ll hold her, Shelly. She’ll be OK.”
“No! I want her with me!”
“Shelly, it’s OK. I’ll hold her for a bit.” Shelly submitted and allowed her mother to take Mark’s baby from her.
Friends and family gathered behind Shelly. Members of the military carried Mark’s casket to the hole in the ground and placed it on the straps that would lower Mark into eternity. After assuring the flag was stretched taut and draped evenly, they stepped away from the casket.
The minister spoke words of Marks courage, devotion to his country, and his flag. When the minister finished, he stepped back, and the officer in charge, also known as the NCOIC (Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge) stepped smartly forward, called his men to arms, and initiated a one-gun salute.
The minister stepped forward again and gave the benediction, as those gathered comforted each other. From somewhere behind them, a bugler began to play “Taps”. Its eloquent and haunting notes floated over and around those gathered – Mark’s goodbye. In the back of the crowd, a young woman in a wheelchair cried softly.
The burial detail approached the casket and saluted. Two of the detail faced each other, held the flag horizontally between them at waist height, and made thirteen folds. When they were done, they’d created a triangle of blue filled with stars. The stars were most important. They reminded those in attendance of our country’s national motto, “In God We Trust”.
The flag was then placed in the white-gloved hands of the NCOIC. Under normal circumstances, he would have placed the flag into the hands of the minister, but this time he stood still, and waited. Movement from the rear made people turn. The woman in the wheelchair was pushed forward by a soldier from Mark’s company. When they reached the NCOIC, they saluted. The NCIOC then placed the folded flag in the woman’s hands, who also wore white gloves. The soldier turned her wheelchair in Shelly’s direction.
