A US Marine bugler plays taps in a rainstorm last week as captured by the @arlingtonmedia team. In the late 1800s, the Army formally adopted the tune for use at military funerals and memorial services. Today, the 24 mournful notes comprising “Taps” are played to commemorate the memory of members of all five branches of the armed forces: the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Air Force, and the Coast Guard. – Arlington Media

A US Marine bugler plays taps in a rainstorm last week as captured by the @arlingtonmedia team. In the late 1800s, the Army formally adopted the tune for use at military funerals and memorial services. Today, the 24 mournful notes comprising “Taps” are played to commemorate the memory of members of all five branches of the armed forces: the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Air Force, and the Coast Guard.

Post author:Clifford Crittenden
Post published:October 6, 2021
Post category:Uncategorized

[igp-video src=”” poster=”https://www.arlington.media/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/a-us-marine-bugler-plays-taps-in-a-rainstorm-last-week-as-captured-by-the-@arlingtonmedia-team.-in-t-1.jpg” size=”large”]

Sailors stand waiting for a full honors service at Marshall Transfer in Arlington National Cemetery. Marshall Transfer was named after US Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall. Appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967, Thurgood Marshall was the first African American Supreme Court justice, and the only black justice during his 24-year tenure. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Marshall attended segregated public schools and experienced racism firsthand. Rejected from the University of Maryland School of Law because he was black, Marshall attended Howard University Law School, graduating first in his class in 1933. After graduation, Marshall began practicing law in his hometown of Baltimore. In his first major court victory, in 1935 he successfully sued the University of Maryland Law School for denying admission to a black applicant on the grounds of race. In 1940, he founded and served as executive director of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. In that position, he argued numerous cases before the Supreme Court — including Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which held that the racial segregation of public schools violated the Constitution. Marshall won 29 of the 32 cases that he argued before the Supreme Court. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Marshall to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and in 1965 President Johnson appointed him as Solicitor General — making him, at the time, the highest-ranking black government official in U.S. history. On the Supreme Court, Marshall consistently defended the constitutional protection of individual rights, including the rights of criminal defendants. He also continued advocating for the civil rights of African Americans and other minorities. He famously described his legal philosophy as, “You do what you think is right, and the law will catch up.” Marshall’s clerks included current Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan and such renowned law professors as Cass Sunstein and Randall L. Kennedy.

April 6, 2022

Today Arlington National Cemetery celebrated National Wreath Day. Despite the current visitor restrictions, soldiers ensured that not a single grave at Arlington National Cemetery was without a wreath. Over the past week, before the grounds opened, soldiers laid wreaths on every grave at the cemetery, in the tradition of Morrill Worcester, so many years before. According to Wreaths Across America’s website: “Morrill Worcester, owner of Worcester Wreath Company of Harrington, Maine, was a 12 year old paper boy for the Bangor Daily News when he won a trip to Washington D.C. His first trip to our nation’s capital was one he would never forget, and Arlington National Cemetery made an especially indelible impression on him. This experience followed him throughout his life and successful career, reminding him that his good fortune was due, in large part, to the values of this nation and the veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. “In 1992, Worcester Wreath found themselves with a surplus of wreaths nearing the end of the holiday season. Remembering his boyhood experience at Arlington, Worcester realized he had an opportunity to honor our country’s veterans. With the aid of Maine Senator Olympia Snowe, arrangements were made for the wreaths to be placed at Arlington in one of the older sections of the cemetery that had been receiving fewer visitors with each passing year.” As this tradition grew over 15 years, word spread. Wreaths Across America was formed in 2007 as a non-profit organization, allowing those interested to contribute not just time but money. According to Wreaths Across America’s website: “In 2014, Wreaths Across America and its national network of volunteers laid over 700,000 memorial wreaths at 1,000 locations in the United States and beyond, including ceremonies at the Pearl Harbor Memorial, as well as Bunker Hill, Valley Forge and the sites of the September 11 tragedies. This was accomplished with help from 2,047 sponsorship groups, corporate contributions, and donations of trucking, shipping, and thousands of helping hands.” Learn more at WreathsAcrossAmerica.org.

December 19, 2020

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¹ DEPENDENT SERVICES
When a spouse or other dependent of a current or former member of the Armed Forces is buried at Arlington, the military service in which the primary party served will provide:

A chaplain
A casket team (body bearers / pall bearers)

No other military funeral honors will be rendered unless the spouse also served in the military.

² STANDARD HONORS SERVICES
Enlisted service members, WO-1 through CW-3, and O-1 through O-3, interred/inurned at Arlington National Cemetery will receive honors provided by the decedent’s branch of service. These honors include:

A chaplain
A casket team (body bearers / pall bearers)
A firing party
A bugler

³ FULL HONORS SERVICES
In addition to the standard military funeral honors, some Commissioned and Warrant officers and senior non-Commissioned Officer with a pay grade of E-9, CW-4 and CW-5, and O-4 and above:

ARMY: Sergeant Major (SGM), Command Sergeant Major (CSM), Sergeant Major of the Army (SMA),
NAVY & COAST GUARD: Master Chief Petty Officer (MCPO), Fleet/Command Master Chief Petty Officer, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON), or Coast Guard (MCPOCG),
MARINES: Master Gunnery Sergeant (MGySgt), Sergeant Major (SgtMaj), Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps (SgtMajMC),
AIR FORCE: Chief Master Sergeant (CMSgt), First Sergeant, Command Chief Master Sergeant, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force (CMSAF),

are eligible for full military funeral honors at Arlington National Cemetery including:

A chaplain
A casket team (body bearers / pall bearers)
A firing party
A bugler
A military band
An escort platoon (size varies according to the rank of the deceased)

Additionally, those eligible for full military funeral honors at Arlington National Cemetery may use the caisson (UNAVAILABLE until Spring 2025), if available. Officers in the rank of colonel and above in the Army and the Marine Corps may be provided a caparisoned (riderless) horse, if available. General/flag officers may receive a cannon salute (17 guns for a four-star general, 15 for a three-star, 13 for a two-star, 11 for a one-star), if available.