FUNERAL HONORS UPDATE 03:  As with the military itself, our armed forces' final farewell to comrades is steeped in tradition and ceremony.

 1.  Prominent in a military funeral is the flag-draped casket. The blue field of
the flag is placed at the head of the casket, over the left shoulder of the deceased.

The custom began in the Napoleonic Wars of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when a flag was used to cover the dead as they were taken from the battlefield on a caisson.

2.  One will notice, during a military funeral that the horses that pull the caisson
which bears the body of the veteran are all saddled, but the horses on the left
have riders, while the horses on the right do not. This custom evolved from the
days when horse-drawn caissons were the primary means of moving artillery ammunition and cannon, and the riderless horses carried provisions.

3.  The single riderless horse that follows the caisson with boots reversed in the stirrups is called the "caparisoned horse" in reference to its ornamental
coverings, which have a detailed protocol all to themselves. By tradition in military funeral honors, a caparisoned horse follows the casket of an Army or Marine Corps officer who was a colonel or above, or the casket of a president, by virtue of having been the nation's military commander in chief. 

 

The custom is believed to date back to the time of Genghis Khan, when a horse was sacrificed to serve the fallen warrior in the next world. The caparisoned horse later came to symbolize a warrior who would ride no more. Abraham Lincoln, who was killed in 1865, was the first U.S.
president to be honored with a caparisoned horse at his funeral.

4.  Graveside military honors include the firing of three volleys each by seven
service members. This commonly is confused with an entirely separate honor, the 21-gun salute. But the number of individual gun firings in both honors evolved the same way.

     a.   The three volleys came from an old battlefield custom. The two warring
sides would cease hostilities to clear their dead from the battlefield, and the
firing of three volleys meant that the dead had been properly cared for and the
side was ready to resume the battle.

     b.  The 21-gun salute traces its roots to the Anglo-Saxon empire, when seven guns constituted a recognized naval salute, as most naval vessels had seven guns. Because gunpowder in those days could be more easily stored on land than at sea, guns on land could fire three rounds for every one that could be fired by a ship at sea.

 

   c.  Later, as gunpowder and storage methods improved, salutes at sea also began using 21 guns. The United States at first used one round for each state, attaining the 21-gun salute by 1818. The nation reduced its salute to 21 guns in 1841, and formally adopted the 21-gun salute at the suggestion of the British in 1875.

5.  A U.S. presidential death also involves other ceremonial gun salutes and military traditions. On the day after the death of the president, a former president or president-elect -- unless this day falls on a Sunday or holiday, in which case the honor will rendered the following day -- the commanders of Army installations with the necessary personnel and material traditionally order that one gun be fired every half hour, beginning at reveille and ending at retreat.

6.  On the day of burial, a 21-minute gun salute traditionally is fired starting
at noon at all military installations with the necessary personnel and material.
Guns will be fired at one-minute intervals. Also on the day of burial, those installations will fire a 50-gun salute -- one round for each state -- at five- second intervals immediately following lowering of the flag.

7.  The playing of "Ruffles and Flourishes" announces the arrival of a
flag officer or other dignitary of honor. Drums play the ruffles, and bugles play
the flourishes – one flourish for each star of the flag officer's rank or as
appropriate for the honoree's position or title. Four flourishes is the highest
honor.  When played for a president, "Ruffles and Flourishes" is followed by "Hail to the Chief," which is believed to have been written in England in 1810 or 1811 by James Sanderson for a play by Sir Walter Scott called "The Lady of the Lake." The play began to be performed in the United States in 1812, the song became popular, and it became a favorite of bands at festive events. It evolved to be used as a greeting for important visitors, and eventually for the president, though no record exists of when it was first put to that use.

8.  The bugle call "Taps" originated in the Civil War with the Army of
the Potomac. Union Army Brig. Gen. Daniel Butterfield didn't like the bugle
call that signaled soldiers in the camp to put out the lights and go to sleep, and
worked out the melody of "Taps" with his brigade bugler, Pvt. Oliver Wilcox
Norton. The call later came into another use as a figurative call to the sleep of
death for soldiers.

 

 Another military honor dates back only to the 20th century.
The missing-man formation usually is a four-aircraft formation with the No. 3 aircraft either missing or performing a pull-up maneuver and leaving the formation to signify a lost comrade in arms. While this can change slightly from service-to-service, and -- based on preferences of family members, below is the standard sequence of events for a military funeral at Arlington National Cemetery: 

·         The caisson or hearse arrives at grave site, everyone presents arms.      

·          Casket team secures the casket, NCOIC, OIC and chaplain salute.   

·          Chaplain leads the way to grave site, followed by casket team.             

·          Casket team sets down the casket and secures the flag.                     

·          The NCOIC ensures the flag is stretched out and level, and centered  over the casket.      

·          NCOIC backs away and the chaplain, military or civilian, will perform the service.          

·          At conclusion of interment service and before benediction, a gun salute is fired for those eligible ( i.e. general officers).        

·         Chaplain concludes his service and backs away, NCOIC steps up to the casket.         

·         The NCOIC presents arms to initiate the rifle volley.             

·         Rifle volley complete, bugler plays "Taps."                  

·         Casket-team leader starts to fold the flag. 

·         Flag fold complete, and the flag is passed to the NCOIC, OIC. 

·         Casket team leaves grave site.

·         NCOIC, OIC either presents the flag to the next of kin, or if there is a military
chaplain on site he will present the flag to the chaplain, and then the chaplain
will present to the next of kin.   

·         Arlington Lady presents card of condolences to the next of kin. 

·          The only person remaining at the grave is one soldier, the vigil. His mission
is to watch over the body until it is interred into the ground.
[Source: http://dva.state.wi.us/Ben_funeralhonors.asp Jul 07 ++]

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MEDICARE RATES 2008:   The Bush administration announced 1 OCT that the standard Medicare premium would rise to $96.40 a month next year, an increase of $2.90 a month. The 3.1% increase is the smallest since 1999-2000, when the premium was at the same level, $45.50, for two years in a row. Most of the 43 million beneficiaries ay the standard premium for Medicare Part B, which covers doctors’ services, outpatient hospital care, X-rays, laboratory services and other diagnostic tests. About 5% of beneficiaries, with annual incomes exceeding $82,000 for individuals and $164,000 or couples filing joint tax returns, will pay higher premiums on a sliding scale.

The maximum will be $238.40 a month for the most affluent, individuals with annual incomes exceeding $205,000 and each member of a couple reporting combined income of more than $410,000. For an individual with annual income from $102,000 to $153,000, the premium will be $160.90 a month. Most beneficiaries pay separate premiums for Medicare coverage of prescription drugs on top of the standard premium. The drug premiums typically range from $25 to $40 a month.

The increase in the standard Part B premium was less than many experts had
expected, in part because officials decided to correct an accounting error. As a result of the error, money for certain hospice benefits was inadvertently drawn from the Part B trust fund rather than a separate trust fund that pays hospital costs. The money will be paid back in the coming year. In addition, the premium  for 2008 is artificially low because it assumes that Medicare payments to doctors will be cut about 10% next year, as required by law. Congress has usually stepped in to avert such cuts, and the cost is passed on to beneficiaries in subsequent years. The chief Medicare actuary, Richard S. Foster, said, The low increase in premiums is good news for 2008,” but added that it was probably a one-time phenomenon.

The annual deductible for doctors visits and other Part B services will be $135, up from $131. The deductible was fixed at $100 a year from 1991 to 2004. It now increases to reflect the growing average cost of Part B services for beneficiaries 65 and older. For a beneficiary admitted to a hospital, the deductible will be $1,024 next year, up from $992. [Source:  the New York Times Robert Pear article 2 Oct
07 ++]
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