re: Signs of respect at funerals that you'll always remember

One of my Marines came back from a particularly rough deployment and EAS’d. He was a good kid with a lot of shite inside none of us could see or didn’t want to see. He apparently succumbed to the thoughts raging in his head a few years later.

A few of us traveled to his funeral and while sparely attended by family and a few friends when we fiollowed the casket outside to the hearse 17 “bums” stood in perfect honor guard formation outside the funeral home. I lost my shite and broke down.

Turns out he’d been living on the street along side them for the past year and change. All veterans from Vietnam to OEF. All dealing with their own demons. All there to honor a fellow warrior. The guilt pains me now but the tribute from them will be with me forever.

Wow you found the one biker on the planet who isn't an obnoxious dipshit

My daughter died of cancer 7 years ago. Her husband is a game warden. They sent a funeral unit to her funeral, and one stood by her remains before and after the funeral. My son in law said usually they don't do this for spouses, just for duty officers retired or active. Very moving, never forget.

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Allin? I’ve never heard of him. Who is he?

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If you want to be highly amused/frightened, read that dude's wiki page. I thought it was a joke. Dude's birth name was Jesus Christ Allin. There is a youtube video of this weird-arse shite online.

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It is very common here in MS for everyone to pull over or stop when a funeral procession is passing by, no matter what lane you are in, as a sign of respect. It’s actually the people who do not stop and start trying to weave in and out of everybody that I remember. Happened two weeks ago on hwy 51 in Madison. I wanted to chase him down.

I had a construction crew working beside a city street...jackhammers going and all such things when a funeral came by. Instinctively, we all took hard hats off and dropped to one knee as the hearse and procession passed. We didn't think too much of it, but as the day went on, the car with the family of the deceased guy came back by later in the day. they told us that it was their father who had passed away and that he had worked construction for many years and that they were all deeply moved. I have never forgotten how such a small gesture that we all took for granted meant so much to that family.

My great uncle was a decorated WWII vet. He died when I was about 10-11. His casket was covered in medals - 2 silver stars, a bronze star, 2 purple hearts. When the ceremony was over several of his fellow vets who had traveled from as far as Oregon to attend the funeral walked up and stood at attention for 2-3 minutes. I'll never forget it.

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It is very common here in MS for everyone to pull over or stop when a funeral procession is passing by, no matter what lane you are in, as a sign of respect. It’s actually the people who do not stop and start trying to weave in and out of everybody that I remember. Happened two weeks ago on hwy 51 in Madison. I wanted to chase him down.

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You are right. That level of respect costs little and is a kindness I can do for them. I see it that the other driver will be a mile further down the road than me when they die. Still dead, but absolutely a mile further down the road.

I attended a funeral for a 98 year old man who was a WW2 vet. As they rolled his casket out there was a man that looked to be around 80 who saluted his officer the whole time they rolled out the casket.
You could see the love and impact the 98 yo had on that man's life. I've never seen anything like it.