No soldier buried without ceremony at National Cemetery of the Alleghenies
Ray Zimmerman of Acme plays taps at the conclusion of the monthly ceremony. So that no man or woman will be forgotten, each month, an honor guard pays tribute to fellow veterans who were buried without ceremony at National Cemetery of the Alleghenies.
Members of the American Legion Post 639 Riders stand outside Shelter 1 with American flags in hand during ceremonies.
Outside Shelter 1 at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies, members of Marine Corps Lead Detachment 1138 fire a 21-gun salute near the end of the ceremony.
When old soldiers die, they don’t just fade away at National Cemetery of the Alleghenies.
The ear-shattering blasts of a 21-gun salute – seven weapons simultaneously fired three times – echo often through the hills of 292 acres in Cecil Township, where every deceased veteran is entitled to graveside military rites.
For a variety of reasons, some are interred without family or friends being present.
But no one is buried there without a commemoration, and people, with flags flying, gather on the first Wednesday of every month in a brief ritual that begins at 9 a.m. The names, ranks and branches of service of those otherwise buried without ceremony in the previous month are read aloud. A bell rings after each name.
At the May 6 observance, John Serbak Jr. of Canonsburg, a member of Knights of Columbus who chose to volunteer at the cemetery to fulfill the organization’s commitment to patriotism, read part of a poem, with some paraphrasing, from “A Veteran’s Last Farewell” by Raymond C. Gugel:
With hushed and metered steps, their procession would have strode.
Their nation’s flag draped across their caskets and urns, for these are not common graves.
Veterans are buried here.
Lord, bless our faithful comrades here and lead them to their rest.
They served this land in time of peace and war; they served and passed the test.
These veterans were precious to this country. A person who heard the call.
They served to keep our nation free and they served to protect us all.
So we come to pay respect to these honored veterans. In praising them, we praise all who served.
Farewell loyal veterans, we leave you here.
Our debt to you is vast, to you and every veteran, our gratitude will last.
Sleep here brave veteran, our nation bids you well.
You have earned your place in paradise, now rest where heroes dwell.
At the conclusion of the reading, members of the Marine Corps League Honor Guard precisely fire their volleys.
The observance in early May lasted only five minutes and ended with a bugler sounding mournful notes as final tribute.
“Every time I hear the taps, it brings tears to my eyes,” said Dan Briner of Canonsburg, a U.S. Air Force veteran.
Beautiful weather is not what the attendees can always expect.
“You should have been here in January,” said Tommy Steadman, a member of the honor guard who served in Vietnam. “It was like 4 degrees. I was so cold I couldn’t even pull the trigger, but I did, because we’re Marines.”
Steadman had no trouble handling his firearm, because this month, the morning was balmy.
“We do this in all kind of weather,” said Ronald Hestdalen, director of the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies, one of only three Department of Veterans Affairs burial grounds in the state where space is still available. “We’ve been out here when it’s snowing sideways and raining sideways.”
Before the ceremony, those who serve in the Marine Corps League Honor Guard inspect each other’s uniforms. They are resplendent in their red caps, white shirts and blue trousers striped with red. John Gallagher adjusts an insignia known as a “military pivot” on the shirt of Mahlon Siebert, 87, a World War II veteran who enlisted in Pittsburgh the day he turned 17. Other members of the guard served during the Korean or Vietnam War.
“It’s an opportunity for us to pause for veterans who served our country,” said Gallagher, a combat-wounded veteran of the Vietnam War.
The bugler, Ray Zimmerman, 62, of Acme, Westmoreland County, has been playing there for three years. He first came to the cemetery as part of the Patriot Guard Riders motorcyclists.
He’s a U.S. Navy veteran who served aboard the USS Rich, a destroyer.
“And we got to tour Vietnam,” he said. “We were there the morning it ended.”
Zimmerman played a bugle during his junior high school years, then didn’t pick one up for 50 years.
When resuming where he left off, Zimmerman practiced for three months before he asked if he could play taps live at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies.
“It’s known everywhere,” he said. “It started as evening call for lights out. (General Daniel) Butterfield started it during the Civil War.
It is the final sounding before they bury the veteran. It’s an emotional 24 notes.”
The public, Hestdalen said, is welcome to attend the ceremony, which takes place on the first Wednesday of every month unless a major holiday, such as New Year’s or Independence Day, coincides.