Allow me to tell you about a veteran who died alone. He had outlived everyone in his family and had no one to care for the details of his funeral.
I am making reference to Mr. Thomas Edward Hunter, 93, died Sept. 12, but there was no one to carry him to his grave. Mr. Hunter was a veteran who served at Normandy and fought to liberate Europe from the Nazis. Southern Funeral Home in Winnfield made all the arrangements for a military honor guard complete with flag and Taps. Evidently a three- or four-person honor guard detail came from Ft. Polk to fold the flag and play Taps. Southern Funeral Home then recruited six football players to serve as Mr. Hunter’s pallbearers. Those should have been veterans.
I commend Southern Funeral Home of Winnfield and the six football players to serve as pallbearers for a person they did not know. Bravo.
This justifies the reason why the citizens of St. Landry Parish should seriously continue making donations in order to make The St. Landry Veteran Funeral Honor Guard a reality. This proposed honor guard will consist of a 20-member team of veterans from St. Landry Parish sufficient for a rifle squad, flag folders, a bugler and pallbearers if requested by the veterans family.
The vision statement for this proposed honor guard posted on the website stlandryvetshonorguard.com is: “The St. Landry Parish Veterans Honor Guard underscores the belief that every veteran honorably discharged from the military and residing in St. Landry Parish should be buried with dignity with full military honors, justifying ‘The Best Going Away possible.’ Our 5,500 veterans residing in St. Landry Parish have delivered for our country — now it’s our turn to deliver for them.”
Without a doubt you will be proud of this honor guard and happy that you have participated. Your donations can be made to American Legion Post 514, in care of Veterans Funeral Honor Guard, P.O. Box 1145, Opelousas, La. 70571.
In addition to accepting donations from regular residents and advertising through the local media, 300 flyers have been mailed out to professional persons in St. Landry Parish. Please do not allow that white envelope you received turn yellow from neglect.
With respect,
Link Savoie
Retired Military
Honor Guard coordinator
648 Thelma Drive
Sunset, La. 70584
337-662-7283
Savoie is a retired from the U.S. Army, a veteran of the Korea/Vietnam wars, past state commander of the Department of Louisiana Veterans of Foreign Wars. (VFW), recipient of the Jefferson Award 2009 and named Humanitarian Of The Year for St. Landry Parish in 2014, both for Service To Veterans.