When you see a Flag on a casket, what do you feel at that moment?

Respect, sorrow and a sense of loss, in 06 I joined the PGR my first ceremony was an honor and remember for 2 young service members who died in Afg. I found I couldn't sit through the ceremony in the church so quietly stepped into the foyer where they had their uniforms laid out with pictures. My heart was so heavy I tried to reason with my self, they weren't my soldiers, I didn't know them and wouldn't have. As I tried to talk myself down one of the soldiers fathers put a hand on my shoulder and said thank you. That was it the water works started. Why would he thank me I thought, I couldn't imagine his loss, and as a parent feared it, in here for him not the opposite. That was also my last PGR Ceremony

Gratitude as well as sorrow for the ones they are leaving behind.

Ya know, experiencing this as both a sailor and a family member, I had a plethora of emotions. As a sailor seeing another sailor with a flag draped coffin, I wanted to honor them; provide that I can carry on their legacy and continue to strive to be the best at everything I can. As a family member, it was a good-bye; grief flowed through me. It's like 2 people trying to support one another in one body. I had Katie who was balling her eyes out and CTT2 Wayman, in uniform, standing tall and head high.

It's pretty hard to hold a salute as Taps plays and you are balling your eyes out.