Dead People Suck by Laurie Kilmartin

Author:Laurie Kilmartin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rodale
Published: 2017-03-18T04:00:00+00:00

Our Dad Was a Vet: Can We Ever Unfold This Flag?

Dad was a Catholic for 83 years and a soldier for two, but the Army dominated his send-off. In addition to the 21-gun salute, he wanted Taps on a bugle and a folded American flag.

We weren’t a military family, and Dad rarely mentioned his time in Korea. Aside from his strict adherence to holiday flag protocol, Dad’s service was invisible in our family’s life. He was very good at math, and, early in his service, he was reassigned to another company that needed his engineering expertise. Later, the company he’d originally been assigned to took heavy casualties. He’d always thought that numbers saved his life.

Once, when the Chinese were lobbing mortars, Dad got trapped in a bunker, his shoulder pinned to the ground. Dad told his guys not to save him but of course they pulled him out. I also have a clear memory of Dad breaking down at the dinner table, when I was about 9 or 10. It was about Korea, about some men who had died.

The only other time I saw him cry was after the death of his favorite Pepsi, number 4.

Because of the funeral bumping, it took some doing to find a full color guard available to work on a Monday afternoon. They were retired servicemen, volunteering their expertise. We were given the flag ahead of time. When I arrived at the cemetery, I carried it under my arm like it was a clutch purse. (It was either that or put down my Diet Coke.)

“Ma’am,” one of the riflemen said, “the flag is two-handed carry.” The color guard was taking Dad’s death much more seriously than I was. I put down my Diet Coke.

They got down to business immediately. Three riflemen fired seven times. I considered pushing my mom in front of them (so convenient, as we were already at a cemetery) but they were shooting blanks.

Then the bugler stepped forward.

Nothing wrecks a room like taps on a bugle. Tough guys weep, kids stop playing Minecraft. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that military buglers have a post-funeral hookup rate of 100 percent.

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