Community honors Honor Guard

Dick Benoit

Thursday, April 11, 2002 | 8:32 a.m.

The mayors of Boulder City and North Las Vegas and representatives of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., turned out to recognize members of the Nellis Air Force Base Honor Guard at a luncheon Friday.

Senior Airman Mark Corralez, Airman First Class Jamie Longmeier, Senior Airman Joshua Gibson and Senior Airman Danny Taylor were singled out for special recognition.

Corralez was named Rookie of the Year, Longmeier was Airman of the Year, Gibson was the unit's Trainer of the Year and Taylor received the coveted Member of the Year plaque.

The Member of the Year must be "motivated, dedicated, 're-blued' and have a solid relationship with the Nellis community, Las Vegas and the Southern Nevada community," said master of ceremonies Bob "Herk" Herculson, a retired colonel with the local chapter of the Air Force Association, which sponsors the annual luncheon. "Re-blued" means having a strong sense of patriotism and duty renewed.

The Nellis Honor Guard, headed by Master Sgt. Karen Lewis, is the second busiest in the Air Combat Command. Last year it performed 653 details, including 262 military funerals, 289 military functions and 102 community events.

Boulder City Mayor Robert Ferraro and North Las Vegas Mayor Michael Montandon presented proclamations from all of the cities in Southern Nevada, as well as one from the state of Nevada, proclaiming a day in honor of the team.

Herculson, in his remarks, referred to the "ultimate tribute" to service members that honor guards routinely render, recalling his own mixed emotions of sorrow and pride evoked by funeral rituals.

Col. Wilhelm Percival, commander of the 98th Range Wing, summed up the symbolic purpose of the volunteers. Noting that the day-to-day reality of service can often be filled with mundane tasks, Percival told the group they served to remind service members and Americans why people choose to serve.

"When you perform, you transcend yourselves as individuals. You take on a glow that is representative of the duty, honor and patriotism that compelled us to join. You remind us of why we are here," Percival said.

In brief