American Legion forms honor guard

Janelle Jessen/Herald-Leader Dennis Bergthold, owner of 2B’s Auto, donated a minivan to the American Legion Honor Guard. Also pictured, from left, are honor guard members Jim Gillig, J.W. Smith and Chuck Lankford. The van will be used to transport members of the guard and their equipment to funerals and events.
Janelle Jessen/Herald-Leader Dennis Bergthold, owner of 2B’s Auto, donated a minivan to the American Legion Honor Guard. Also pictured, from left, are honor guard members Jim Gillig, J.W. Smith and Chuck Lankford. The van will be used to transport members of the guard and their equipment to funerals and events.

American Legion Post 29 has a new honor guard that provides military honors for local veterans' funerals and a color guard to post flags at civilian events.

The 12-member guard was formed last September and has since performed at 23 funerals, said Jim Gillig, co-commander of the honor guard and adjutant of Post 29. The color guard, comprised of the same members, has posted flags at civilian ceremonies such as those at John Brown University, Siloam Springs High School, Siloam Springs Library's grand opening and most recently at the Oklahoma Arkansas Honor Flight send-off ceremony for veterans at the Cherokee Casino.

The group was recently certified to perform funeral honors by Military Funeral Honors of Arkansas and has performed funerals at the National Cemetery in Fayetteville, Gillig said.

During funeral ceremonies, the honor guard stands at attention and salutes the veteran as they arrive at the cemetery, he said. They play taps, shoot three rounds of rifle fire and fold the flag to be presented to the family.

"Each one (of the honor guard members) are veterans," Gillig said. "They are all proud to be there. It's an honor to be there to perform full military honors."

Families are very appreciative of having their loved one receive military honors at their funeral, he said.

"Their reaction tears at your heart," Gillig said.

The honor guard has been a long time coming, according to Gillig. The idea to establish an honor guard was brought up four years ago but there were not enough participants to bring it to reality. Gillig said that Madden Waits, former second vice commander for the post, insisted that veterans deserve more.

Gillig volunteered to help get the honor guard off the ground and they made a five-minute video and passed it around to recruit members. The honor guard started off with eight members and they were largely self-funded, Gillig said. Members bought white shirts and the post covered the cost of embroidery.

The post started practicing for a three-shot volley with eight old rifles the post had on hand. It is a common myth that all veterans receive a 21 gun salute, Gillig explained. That honor is actually reserved for U.S. presidents.

Once they got going, the honor guards started "growing by leaps and bounds," and has received a lot of support from the community, according to Gillig.

The honor guard received a donation of six ceremonial rifles and blank rounds of ammunition from the Civilian Marksman's Program and began practicing. They also received a donation of an electronic bugle from Walmart on which to play taps, he said.

J.W. Smith applied for a grant to fund the purchase of pistol belts and gloves. The honor guard has also received support from families of the deceased and from Wasson Funeral Home.

The honor guard recently received a donation of a minivan to carry their equipment and members from 2B's Auto. Shawn Hunter of Inuendos Design Co., a former military honor guard member, donated lettering for the van.

All of the donations and support will help the honor guard perform military honors at even more funerals. Members of the honor guard take their duties very seriously, Gillig said.

"It's just one little way we can give back to the community and veterans who served," Gillig said.

General News on 05/04/2016