NYNG suspends four for casket humor

Thank goodness! I am so very pleased they are digging deeper and finding them all. I have made my feelings about this well known on the thread for the Wisconsin NG.

Arkansas nailed one. The photo was taken during training at Camp Robinson in Little Rock, and we take shit like this seriously here. Glad to see so does my home state New Yawk.
This is what was posted on a very liberal blog:

Posted by Max Brantley on Fri, Feb 21, 2014 at 11:53 AM

CONTROVERSIAL PHOTO: It has led to a suspension in Arkansas.

The Arkansas National Guard has announced that a member of the Arkansas Guard has been suspended for taking part in a joke photograph featuring an empty flag-draped casket. The photo, posted on social media, was taken at a training course at Camp Robinson in North Little Rock.

Citing an ongoing investigation and concern for the safety of the soldier, the Guard member’s name wasn’t released. Adjutant General William D. Wofford termed the incident, in which Guard members from a number of states participated, was “deplorable.”

I guess “suspended” is the closest translation to what really happened that civilians can write. I guess “relieved of all duties pertaining to burial detail and waiting to get the vattalion commander’s boot up their ass” is too long to use in casual conversation.
To me “suspended” means your ass is just sent home without pay and not allowed to work until they get done with your ass.
These guys are Guard so not sure how thet would go about it, In my opinion Id have these guys NOT go home and have them doing every shit detail availiable until they et NJPed.

I’ve only done a few funerals myself, but if I were to ever catch a troop EVEN THINKING about joking around with a flag-draped coffin, empty training aid or otherwise, i’d probably end up losing a stripe because of the “Wall-to-wall Counseling Session” that would follow. I graduated from a Military Academy High School in the early 80’s, where WWII, Korea, and Vietnam Vets, Retired Senior NCO’s at that, kept us in line when we weren’t in class along with a Retired USMC WWII, Korea, and Vietnam Vet, (Retired LCol) who was Commandant, taught me and many another young meatheaded male youth what that flag stands for and represents, as well as the sacrifices many have made to keep it flying. And YES, for any Cadet in that school caught intentionally disrespecting the US Flag, the trip to the Commandant’s Office was among his lesser worries, the ass-beating coming to him in the barracks was the biggest!

(To be read in your most obnoxious wastrel/surfer voice) Hey, what’s the big deal, man? It was just a joke, dude. You all need to lighten up or something. We were just having a little fun…you know…F-U-N…the first three words of funeral? Dude…chillax…it was a joke and we thought it would be funny on Twitter and stuff.

I weep for our military of all branches and components given some of the clueless imbeciles we have running around. How not one of them stood up and said- “Hey- you know what? We need to take our job seriously and treat this mission with the respect and dignity it deserves. Knock off the BS” is telling of how self-absorbed the “look at me” generation has become.

I hate to paint with a broad brush, but without smartphones, social media and Xbox, would anyone have thought this was a good idea…even 10 years ago? Maybe they would have, we just wouldn’t have known about it because there was no worldwide forum for their special brand of stupid and obtuseness.

I read where there’s over 400,000 people interred at Arlington. If these dumbasses start at the first gravesite and apologize to each and every headstone, they should be done by the time their enlistment is up.

Over the extent of my full Navy career, I was CACO, Decedent Affairs Officer and even was fortunate enough to repatriate remains from Vietnam for burial in the US under Task Force Full Accounting. I mark those efforts among the high point of my otherwise modest career.

But the most memorable event was managing the care of a HM1 from Guam who had a non-treatable Stage IV glioma (brain tumor). She was divorced, no children, and only her mother to care for her. During the course of her terminal disease, staff from the Naval Health Clinic Hawaii, Tripler Army Medical Center and US Naval Hospital Guam took turns caring for her until her demise. Her mother spoke almost no English and there is not a plethora of Chamorro speakers on Hawaii. Still, we managed to make it work.

I would hazard a guess that the entire team had thousands of hours in helping our shipmate and her mother prepare for her certain and eventual demise. The military burial team from Hickam and Pearl Harbor were ultimate professionals.

To think for a second that this prestigious and honorable duty has become the product of a punchline for some folks, in this case activated Guardsmen, is unfathomable.

If it has come to this, then it is time to reassess the standards by which these folks are chosen for this solemn responsibility. It sickens me to think that our “me first” millenials who have no clue what honor, courage and commitment mean, are chosen to perform this sacred honor.

I would rather see the American Legion, the DAV or the VFW take over the role before another group of classless, clueless, self-centered whiners make the same mistake again.

This is nothing more than a leadership failure, but I pity the leaders who from this pool of miscreants must choose the men and women, children really, who are charged with the most awesome of responsibilities.

I also was a CACO (Causality Assistance Call Officer) as a Chief Yeoman. This was supposed to be a LT or above with a Naval Chaplain as the CACO team. My CO did not like this type of duty so he delegated it to me. I was not upset over this as I figured I would do a much better job that he would.

My team went on a CACO call to a full Captain (that is a 4 stripper to you other service members). This was fully against all Naval Regs as well as Officer/Enlisted duties. This was in the Boston area, we got lost, were late, etc. I felt so bad I thought a real sharp burial detail was called for so I used commands that my team was not used to. We made a mess of everything except folding and presenting the flat to the Next of Kin. That bad feeling went away when the widow thanked us from the bottom of her heart for just showing up and she meant it. We left that cemetary marching like marines.