354 Days/28w1d

On Tuesday, September 7th, 2010, we all said one final goodbye to my Uncle Dennis. His family and friends memorial service was held on the previous Saturday, but being a Marine with twenty years of service he was also honored by the military.

The program from the first memorial


His obituary

The weather on Tuesday was perfect. Bright a sunny, but breezy and crisp. This ceremony was much smaller and shorter than the first with mostly his immediate family in attendance.

Arriving at Fort Logan National Cemetery

The ceremony began around 12:30pm


Uncle Mick blew and sang "Taps"

The picture below depicts a real honor. The national salute of 21 guns is fired in honor of a national flag, the sovereign or chief of state of a foreign nation, a member of a reigning royal family, and the President, ex-President and President-elect of the United States. It is also fired at noon of the day of the funeral of a President, ex-President, or President-elect.

According to the service coordinator at Fort Logan, the Marine Corps sends as many Marines as it can to perform the 21 gun salute at military services, however, it's rare that they are able to send a full seven. Services held at this cemetery only have three or four Marines performing the salute.

Uncle Dennis had a full seven.

The flag is presented to his son. They were also given some shell casings from the 21 gun salute.








“Love is stronger than death. It can't stop death from happening, but no matter how hard death tries it can't separate people from love or take away our memories.”




"Death is the last chapter in time, but the first chapter in eternity."


About one-third of the stack of letters that were sent to my grandparents. Uncle Dennis was loved and remembered.