Medal of Honor Pilot

[BigTruck]

Col James Swett, USMC, WWII Pilot.

[a1]

He does deserve this recognition and so do all the other Medal of Honor recipients.

These soldiers serve to their highest ability for their country and fellow soldiers.

[Leigh]

Very well done

its sad to know that those men who fought for their country are not going to be around for much longer

and i think it should eb here

[expat]

Interesting read Truck, I had never heard of him.
Just out of interest, how does one get a full military funeral? What entitles an ex-military man/woman to such a send off. Who pays for it, would it be refused for what ever reason?

Matt

[mhoffman50]

God's speed Mr. Swett!  

And thank you bigtruck for posting.

[BFMF]

wow, what an incredible story. Rest In Peace...

Interesting read Truck, I had never heard of him.
Just out of interest, how does one get a full military funeral? What entitles an ex-military man/woman to such a send off. Who pays for it, would it be refused for what ever reason?

Matt

Hope this clears up some of your questions.

Who is eligible for Military Funeral Honors?
- Military members on active duty or in the Selected Reserve.
- Former military members who served on active duty and departed under conditions other than dishonorable.
- Former military members who completed at least one term of enlistment or period of initial obligated service in the Selected Reserve and departed under conditions other than dishonorable.
- Former military members discharged from the Selected Reserve due to a disability incurred or aggravated in the line of duty.

http://www.militaryfuneralhonors.osd.mil/eligpage.html

I'm not sure about other law enforcement, firefighters, government officials, ect....

[beaky]

A very nice tribute... I can see he wasn't just an outstanding Marine aviator, he was a guy who left lots of pride and happiness behind him. We should all be so lucky.

It is sad to see another one of these greats "go west", but I'm glad for him, his family and friends that he survived all that and lived on to a ripe old age.

[Omag 2.0]

The WWII veterans aren't getting any younger I suppose. Luckely this one lived to see old age. Amazing how this ceremony dates back to the civil war. A respectul way to send this ace off on his final voyage...

[Romulus111VADT]

[BigTruck]

Interesting read Truck, I had never heard of him.
Just out of interest, how does one get a full military funeral? What entitles an ex-military man/woman to such a send off. Who pays for it, would it be refused for what ever reason?

Matt

Federal tax dollars pay for the funeral.  It is requested by the family through a small bit of paperwork, and no member who has served at least one enlistment honorably is refused.  

Now usually we just have a 7 man rifle team, 6 pall bearers, a bugler, and a flag presenter, but for higher honors such as a medal of honor, a high ranking general, etc, we have the horse and carriage, a full marching platoon, plus all the default staff, and we try our best to get a fly over with the missing man formation.  

I generally do two or three funerals a week, it's part of our duties as Instructor-Inspector staff, but this was my first medal of honor funeral, so I was pretty excited about the experience.  

[expat]

Interesting read Truck, I had never heard of him.
Just out of interest, how does one get a full military funeral? What entitles an ex-military man/woman to such a send off. Who pays for it, would it be refused for what ever reason?

Matt

Federal tax dollars pay for the funeral.

[tcco94]

Ah wouldove loved to see that.