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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 2017)
SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2017 5 B M ILITARY H ERITAGE C HRONICLES — The color of the Guard B Y C AL A PPLEBEE Special to the Siuslaw News W hile I value and enjoy the relation- ship with the various veteran organizations in Florence as well as several individual veterans, since I myself am not a veteran I don’t always know or understand appropriate protocol when it comes to military traditions. Such was the case recently when asked to facilitate the Posting of Colors at the memo- rial service for a local elected official who was not a veteran of military service. Some involved in the process felt it was inappropriate, but the Florence VFW Post 3232 Color Guard honored the request and performed the ceremony. Since I was already confused as to Color Guard vs. Honor Guard, I thought it would be a perfect topic to explore in a Chronicles edition. After conducting online research including the USAF Honor Guard Manual and VFW National Headquarters, as well as reaching out to our local Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs) and U.S. Coast Guard, I have a better grasp on the tra- dition. An Honor Guard is basically a ceremonial unit that is often associated with military tradi- tion, although some larger fire and law enforcement agencies maintain an Honor Guard as well. While each branch of the military has its own official ceremonial unit, many VSOs such as American Legion and VFW also have a unit that pro- vides the ceremonial duties as well. The United States isn’t the only nation to utilize Honor Guard units for various cere- monies, and Color Guard duties may also be used by education- al institutions of various levels in conjunction with their marching bands. According to VFW National Headquarters, Honor Guard and Color Guard are basically synonymous with similar pro- tocols for each, although the Honor Guard is more appropri- ate for funerals and escorting deceased military members, whereas Color Guard is more appropriate for simply posting of colors at a variety of cere- monies, either public or private. They have no restriction for posting of colors at the funeral of local elected officials and leave the decision up to the local post. Similarly, the USAF Honor Guard Manual includes language in its “Background” section 4.1.1 indicating “distin- guished governmental … offi- cials” may be included as appropriate. While locally we may only witness the posting of colors at events and ceremonies or the occasional funeral honors for fallen comrades, other duties may include detachments for visiting heads of state or guard- ing national monuments such as Arlington National Cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknowns, guarded by mem- bers of the U.S. 3rd Infantry Regiment. A Color Guard unit is con- SIUSLAW VALLEY FIRE & RESCUE W See Jim for your auto sales needs! 2150 Hwy. 101 • Florence (541) 997-3475 • 1-800-348-3475 Visit the Siuslaw News online at WWW.THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM ell, another summer has quick- ly disappeared as fleeting rays of sunshine diminish daily. Recollections of cold rainy days are filtering through our minds as early morning chills solicit warmer clothing during ever-increasing brisk mornings. True thoughts: “It’s just too B Y P ETE “B OA ” darn soon for the W ARREN warm tempera- Recruitment & tures and blue Retention Coordinator for SVFR skies to abandon us!” The season unfairly teases us and never sidered to include two honor guards, two flag bearers and a Sergeant-at-arms who dictates the orders during the ceremony. One protocol I found intrigu- ing is that it is not mandatory to formally retire the colors just because they have been posted, particularly if they were infor- mally posted. In a small community such as ours we are blessed to have two military organizations which provide Honor Guard and Color Guard ceremonies. The USCG Station Siuslaw River honors such requests pro- vided there is no conflict with its schedule. They have provided this tra- dition for numerous parades and other events that I have attended here over the years. Likewise, Florence Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3232 also provides Honor Guard or Color Guard ceremonies and not just stays long enough to satisfy our longing for a longer recovery from the doldrums — which is directly related to our almost strikingly white legs. Days of satisfying warmth are still upon us, but we know — yes, we know — what’s in store just around the corner. The change in the season has brought forth another Firefighter Entry-Level Academy. In a couple of days, you’ll see new firefighters in-training at various locations in Florence. This academy is special as we will have representatives from four fire depart- ments. Siuslaw, of course, but we also have firefighters-in-training from Mapleton, Swisshome and Deadwood fire departments taking part in the academy. Not only have we been training recently with our sister departments, but now our new firefighters are jointly learning entry- level firefighting together. There are eight excited recruits in this month’s class. They’ve spent many hours studying pre-academy material: building construction types, fire hoses, types of locally. For the last three years they have been designated as the VFW’s official state Color Guard as well. So even after their original military service to our nation, these veterans are still provid- ing services to our community. While I feel I now have a better understanding of Honor Guard and Color Guard units and ceremonies which are so steeped in military tradition, maybe I can next sort out 21- gun salute vs. three-rifle volley in later editions. To learn more about military heritage in general, visit the Oregon Coast Military Heritage Museum Thursday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at 2145 Kingwood St. in Florence, or visit www.oregon coastmilitarymuseum.com. water streams and foams, ventilation tech- niques, water supply types, fire behavior and many other pre-academy studies. Once the academy starts, cadets will apply what they’ve learned from the online courses to the practical side of fire- fighting. The recruits will start develop- ing repetitive habits while burning those habits into their muscle memory by solid- ifying what they are learning with hands- on training. This class will finalize their training with a live burn on the last day of training. As the season changes with leaves falling and drops of rain increasingly pattering our roofs, you can be assured not only Siuslaw Valley will have more able- bodied recruits in the area, but also our neighbors to the east. Pete “Boa” Warren can be contacted at 541-997-3212, or the main SVFR station, 2625 Highway 101, or email Boa@ svfr.org. In Honor of All Veterans The staff at the Siuslaw News LV preparing to publish the annual Veterans Day publication, which is a special supplement to the newspaper that is devoted to all military veterans who currently are Florence-area residents or have a connection to this area. If you are interested in sharing your military background information in the annual tribute publication, or in updating information that we have pub- lished previously, please complete this form and submit it to the Siuslaw News. Service photographs are also welcome. Submit forms and photos by email to QKLFNVRQ@thesiuslawnews.com, by regular mail to Siuslaw News, Attn: 1HG +LFNVRQ, P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR 97439; or drop off materials at the Siuslaw News office in Old Town,148 Maple St. If your profile was published in the 201 Veterans tribute and you do not wish to make any changes to the profile, there is no need to resubmit this form or your military information. Please be sure that all materials are carefully labeled with your name and phone number and are submitted by October 2, 201. Thank you for participating in this project to remember and honor our veterans. Name:____________________________________________________________________________ Contact Phone Number:______________________________________________________________ Branch of S ervice: __________________________________________________________________ Rank Achieved (optional):____________________________________________________________ Dates S erved: ______________________________________________________________________ Where did you serve?________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ Special Information (E.G., POW):______________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ Has your veterans information been published previously in the Siuslaw News Veterans Publication? YES NO Do we have your military photo(s) on file? YES NO (Note: If you have submitted photos in the past, we will still have them on file.)
