Veterans fight for military funerals

Tuesday, June 1, 1999 | 3:17 a.m.

The mournful notes of "Taps" fill the air. Three times a seven-gun volley fires off.

"On behalf of the president of the United States, the Department of Defense and a very grateful nation," a uniformed honor guard member says, bearing a folded flag in white-gloved hands, "we present this flag to you in honor of your loved one's faithful and dedicated service to the United States military."

The solemn ceremony is one of the final benefits military retirees and other eligible veterans count on.

But as the military has downsized and veterans -- especially those from World War II -- have died in greater numbers, the demand for funeral honors has not always been met.

Veterans Affairs and Pentagon statistics show that more than 500,000 veterans die each year and that the number is expected to climb to more than 620,000 a year in the next 10 years. At the same time, active-duty forces are down 35 percent in the last 10 years and the reserves are down 25 percent.

As a result about 9,000 valid requests for funerals are declined each year, the Pentagon says.

And defense officials don't expect things to get better. Sixteen million of the 26 million military veterans in the United States served in World War II, which means the death rates among veterans should soar in the coming years. To send the minimum detail of military personnel to so many funerals will cost an estimated $75 million next year, a Pentagon report says.

In response to complaints from communities where veterans have been denied honors since the mid-1990s, a measure in the 1999 defense authorization bill would take the decision out of the hands of base commanders and mandate military presence for veterans' funerals.

If approved by Congress, the policy would go into effect Jan. 1.

Veterans in Las Vegas have fared better than those in communities not close to a military base, as it is up to base commanders to determine if they have sufficient staffing to provide color guards for veterans' funerals.

"We've been fortunate," said Jack Porrino, a Vietnam Air Force veteran who is the superintendent of the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City, which relies heavily on the Nellis Air Force Base honor guard. "As long as we have Nellis Air Force Base, we'll be fine."

But Porrino recognizes that between military downsizing and Southern Nevada's rapidly growing population, Air Force honor guards won't be able to fill every request.

"Veterans organization color guards will have to pick up some of the slack," he said. "We may even want to consider the (Junior) ROTC programs at various high schools to serve as funeral color guards."

The federal mandate, if passed, would not require full honors for every veteran -- only active-duty members, military retirees and veterans with certain high decorations are entitled to those. Three-member teams would attend funerals of other honorably discharged veterans.

Pentagon officials are trying to ensure that the measure would allow reservists and veterans to serve on the three-member teams, noting that requiring the participation of active-duty members would be a restriction too difficult to meet.

But not all veterans organization honor guards will be able to increase efforts to meet such demands.

Clayton Glenn of American Legion Post 31 in Boulder City said that because his organization's membership is down, the post's small and ever-aging color guard has had to cut back on the number of funerals it handles.

"Our bugler, Tommy Nelson, is 87, I'm 79 and the average age of our post's members is in the high 60s," Glenn, a World War II Army Air Corps veteran, said. "We had to stop providing our color guard for all Boulder City veterans and limit it to funerals for our (158) members.

"If we lost Nellis, there would be a hell of a lot of problems providing color guards for veterans funerals," he said.

Nellis currently has about two dozen airmen who volunteer for the color guard -- a four-month obligation that requires daily practice. The units range from seven to 15 members per funeral and do 15 to 20 services a week.

"We have been able to keep up with the demand," said Nellis color guard Staff Sgt. Joe Vass. "We have grown in numbers to meet the growth in local population."

The Las Vegas Marine Corps Reserve Center also provides honor guards ranging from two members to all eight of its personnel for funerals.

"We average about two funerals a week in Utah and Las Vegas," Marine Master Sgt. LaRue Marone said. "We are keeping up."

The mandated military representation at funerals would provide not only for three-member teams but also the playing of "Taps" -- either by a bugler or on a tape recording.

The Pentagon also plans to establish a national toll-free number for funeral directors to make arrangements for military honor teams.

"I'm glad to see steps are being taken to address this issue, but the idea for a central site to make arrangements by phone has the potential to become a real mess," Porrino said. "Arrangements that can be made locally should be handled that way."

Currently there are 8,400-plus people buried in the Boulder City veterans cemetery. There is no wait for veterans to be buried there, and the 80-acre facility is not expected to reach capacity until 2020. Even then, there is room for expansion on all sides of the facility except to the north, where it borders the Boulder City Airport.

To meet the demand for the growing number of local veterans funerals conducted at the cemetery, ground will be broken for a chapel this year. A mausoleum to save ground burial space and extend the facility's capacity is planned for a few years down the road.

As Vietnam vets near senior citizen status and World War II veterans push 90, Porrino knows all too well what that will mean for his cemetery -- even more free-of-charge burials than the record numbers now being set.

"A few years ago, we averaged 800 to 900 burials a year and last year we had the most ever -- 1,250," Porrino said, noting that there currently are up to 12 burials a day at the site. "We are on pace to break that record this year.

"But I believe we can continue to keep up with the crunch. I believe that the veterans groups will not let this tradition die."

"We had to stop providing our color guard for all Boulder City veterans and limit it to funerals for our (158) members. If we lost Nellis, there would be a hell of a lot of problems providing color guards for veterans funerals."Clayton Glenn,BOULDER CITY

AMERICAN LEGION POST 31