North Georgia group, which provides services at veterans’ funerals, in danger of folding
An all-volunteer team of military veterans is putting out a call for new membership.
The North Georgia Honor Guard wants to avoid having to greatly decrease its annual commitments or, in the worst case, eventually fold due to a dwindling number of active members, confirmed Mark Harbison, an honor guard member from Blairsville.
“Our members come from all branches, ranks and military experiences. Some are also members of such veteran service organizations as the VFW, American Legion and Marine Corps League. We have others who do not belong to any of those,” said Harbison.
‘Wherever they want to do it, we will go’
The main objective of the group is to provide military honors at veterans’ funerals.
It serves four north Georgia counties and membership is split between two regional divisions. The western division serves Gilmer and Fannin, while the eastern division serves Union and Towns.
“A funeral director will ask (the family) if their loved one was a veteran. If they were, they ask if they would like to have military rites. If they say yes, the funeral home will call me or one of our vice commanders,” said western division commander Bill Stodgill. “We put out an email saying we’re having a service on such and such date at such and such place. We never know how many members will show up until that day. They don’t let me know if they’re coming or not.”
The honor guard typically provides services for one or two funerals a week, but sometimes more, said Stodgill.
“Funeral services take up probably 80-90 percent of our time. The western division did 67 funerals last year. The year before that, we did 84 and the year before that, we did 113. It has decreased over the years, partly because there are fewer and fewer veterans. We’re still burying World War II veterans and Korean veterans. We’re (doing services for) a Vietnam combat veteran this Saturday,” he added.
According to one of the organization’s former commanders, Jack McCorkle, 88, the North Georgia Honor Guard was originally formed by the Blue Ridge VFW Post in 1987 or 1988.
“(It) was started by Flo and Frank Ford, (who were) both Army vets,” remembered McCorkle, whose 23 years in the Marines spanned both the Korean and Vietnam War. “It was kinda rough in those early days. We were doing about 160 funerals a year. The military conducted a few of them, but, like today, they couldn’t always be here.”
The group goes wherever the funerals are held, said Stodgill.
“If the family uses a local funeral home, regardless of where their home is, that funeral home will call us. Wherever they want to do it, we will go. We stand in the pouring rain, the heat and the snow. It doesn’t matter,” he added. “Wherever the body will be rested is where we usually do the ceremony, but not always. We’ve done them in parks, chapels, funeral homes, people’s houses and yards next to creeks. You name it.”
Stodgill described how the military rites ceremony typically includes such honors as an armed salute, a bugler playing “Taps,” a memorial reading, posting of flag colors, a 13-fold flag ceremony and presentation of the folded flag to family.
It can take a while to learn the specifics of each part of the ceremony, but the honor guard is happy to provide the necessary training.
“If someone is interested in joining, they can come watch a couple of ceremonies and see what we do. We teach them how to post the flags and fire the rifles. There’s a real exact procedure you go through to do that. Everybody has to fire in unison,” Stodgill said.
“If someone has been in the honor guard awhile and wants to learn how to fold the flag, we will teach them that, too. It can take the better part of a year to learn how to fold a flag properly. It took me about eight months to learn. It takes two guys to fold it. They present it to the commander and I present it to the family.”
The rifle salute fired by the honor guard is sometimes mistaken for a 21-gun salute, but it’s actually a ceremonial act often performed at military and police funerals.
“A 21-gun salute includes cannon and Naval fire. It’s reserved for presidents, chiefs of state (and other heads of government). What we fire is a three-volley salute. If we happen to have seven guys with rifles there are 21 rounds fired, but it’s not a 21 gun salute,” Harbison explained.
“We like to have seven (rifles at funerals), but we don’t always have enough members to fire seven. It’s standard to go with five or more,” added Stodgill.
More active members needed
The ages of honor guard members typically range from 50s to 80s, which has contributed to fewer previously active members being able to participate at funerals, noted Harbison.
“(The decrease in membership) is partly due to our escalating average age and members moving away. It’s (also) due to the fact that a number of veterans in our area are not aware of the existence of the honor guard. Our membership is in danger of dwindling to the point where we’re no longer able to provide these services for veterans’ families,” he added.
Stodgill said there are 30-35 members on the western division’s roll call, but about half are getting to the age where they can’t take part in requested services.
“We have about 15 who are active. I will be 69 next March and I’m the youngest guy in this division except for one who’s in his 50s and still works full time. If I can have 7-12 at a funeral, we can do all the requirements without having to double up,” he added.
The group doesn’t hold regular monthly meetings. Instead, they meet when the need calls for their participation.
“We really don’t have enough time to have regular meetings. We are an all volunteer, nonprofit organization. Nobody is paid. The donations we occasionally do receive go to the upkeep and purchase of our equipment, which is numerous. We have flags, stands, rifles, flags and flag bags to buy. We don’t disperse money to individuals. Each member has to pay their own way,” Stodgill said.
“Some of us don’t get around quite as well as we (once) did. We don’t execute movements with quite the same degree of precision as we used to, but it’s a tradition that is of the utmost importance to veterans’ families and a proper way to show respect to the men and women who have served this country. We strive to send them off the right way by showing respect with a solemn ceremony,” added Harbison.
Open to all honorably discharged veterans
The honor guard was once a fixture at several Gilmer County events including Memorial Day services and the annual Veterans Day parade and honorary program where uniformed members placed a wreath at the veterans monument on the downtown Ellijay square before firing a three-volley salute to conclude the ceremony. The lessened ranks have caused participation in those events to decrease.
Stodgill knows work and other obligations often prevent younger veterans from joining the honor guard, but he wholeheartedly welcomes any interest from them.
“I’ve had some younger veterans who’ve showed interest, but they’re still working and raising families,” he said. “It is a commitment when someone joins, but I will never say anything to anybody for not coming. You may have members who are sick or have to work or have other engagements. You come if you can. When you do come, we’re glad to see you and ask no questions.”
“We rely on volunteers, that have available time during the week and sometimes on Saturdays or Sundays, depending on when the funerals are scheduled. Sometimes they are scheduled with short notice, but we respond with what we can since we realize how much this service means to the families,” added Harbison.
The group is open to both combat and peacetime veterans. Although the majority of its membership is male, female veterans are certainly welcome to join, Stodgill confirmed.
“It makes no difference whether they are male or female. We’ve had female members before, but we only have one on the roll right now,” he said.
“The only requirement to join is that you are an honorably discharged veteran. You can show a DD 214 Form to the commander who verifies the honorable discharge. For those who are members of an organization like the VFW, they don’t have to do that because they’ve already been vetted by that organization,” noted Harbison.
Stodgill joined the honor guard after retiring and settling in Fannin County. It was a way to pay tribute to his fellow veterans, as well as the U.S. Air Force for providing training and experience to a young jet engine mechanic.
Stodgill said four years in the Air Force led him to a 38-year career with Delta Airlines.
“I received a lot of good training that I wouldn’t have been able to pay for myself by going to college. My life — a wife and five kids — was started and supported by that time in the Air Force,” he said.
Using 2010 Census stats, Harbison estimates more than 7,500 veterans live in the honor guard’s four-county service area. He hopes getting the word out about the group’s purpose will lead other veterans to join and participate when their time allows.
“We need new members so we will never have to decline a families’ request to honor their loved one,” he said.