Herb Follis holds a letter from Commissioner of Veterans’ Affairs Brigadier General Leslie E. Beavers praising the Pennyrile Honor Guard for honoring deceased veterans at funerals. The Honor Guard appeared at 115 funerals in 2007.
The commendation recognizes the contributions made by members of VFFW Post 1013, American Legion Post 74, DAV Chapter 8 and Marine Corps League Detachment 1150 for contributing honor guards for the funerals of American Veterans.
In the letter, Beavers said to the honor guards, “Your high level of continued commitment in honoring those who served s truly appreciated. The professionalism exhibited by the Pennyrile Honor Guard reflects the immense respect and pride each member holds for the duty of rendering honors at each and every service.”
Herb Follis of the American Legion said, “We got the award because the guys in the Honor Guard are well trained and look like an honor guard and secondly because the amount of funerals they participated in last year-115. We kept pretty busy.”
Follis said that the honor guard is represented currently by veterans of all branches of the service, minus the Coast Guard presently. It boasts a membership of 22 members, though Follis said that only 18 are currently active. To render honors at a funeral, he said that the Honor Guard fields nine members, seven to render the 21-Gun Salute, a bugler to play taps and a commander.
“Our first year, we had eight funerals. The next was 38, then 77, then 100 and last year we had 115. That’s about all we can handle,” said Follis.
For the rest of this story, read this week's Cadiz Record.
