Last Salute – Page 59

Medal of Honor Recipients Join Last Salute in honoring fallen heroes

Last Salute military funeral honor guard is extremely honored to have autographs from America’s real heroes in the Humvees that are used for the many military funerals Last Salute conducts each year. The “Gun Carriage” Humvee now has 10 Medal of Honor recipient signatures, and the “Caisson” Humvee has 7.

The “Gun Carriage” Humvee is pictured above. 10 (ten) Medal of Honor recipients have signed the dashboard in Last Salute’s Military Gun Carrige Humvee. The gun carriage HMMWV has completed more than one thousand ceremony missions and transports all necessary equipment to conduct the Last Salute ceremony including a Civil War cannon which is fired at every ceremony.

The “Caisson Humvee is pictured above. 7 (seven) Medal of Honor recipients have signed the radio tower (dash) in Last Salute’s Military Caisson Humvee. The Up Armored Slantback with machine gun turret, military HMMWV and M1102 Artillery Trailer proudly conduct dignified transfer (transport) of fallen heroes to their final resting place.

These heroes all want to help honor our veterans. They are a great group of men and continue to engage and support society through many community service programs and charities. Here are some of them signing the Humvees……

Hershel “Woody” Williams (image above), the last WW2 Medal of Honor recipient signed both Humvees.

Donald “Doc” Ballard

Medal of Honor recipients Barney Barnum and “Doc” Ballard also signed

Barney Barnum signed the Black “Gun Carriage” Humvee in 2014 and signed the slantback “caisson” Humvee in 2025

If you have the time, you should check out each of these men’s Wikipedia page to see the amazing heroics each displayed which resulted in them being awarded our nation’s highest honor. These are truly legendary heroes that are a significant part of American history. We are humbled by their sacrifice and service.

Last Salute would like to acknowledge the generous and ongoing support of David the “Hummer Parts Guy”. He keeps these incredibly important and unique military Humvees operational.

We were also honored to have “Woody”, Robert Patterson and the other heroes fire our Civil War cannons, the “Jaime Lee” and the “Mike D”.

We thank these amazing heroes for their support of our mission

Tyler Wechsler

Stand tall young brother….

You are wearing your best Dress Blue uniform as you have been entrusted with a most sacred mission. You are to report to our most important checkpoint and post guard at the gates of Heaven.

You will stand your post with legendary brother Marines. You are now a member of the Marine Corps most decorated and fearsome unit.

We rest easy knowing that you hold vigil for us. You will secure your post and never surrender your position. You will check in each Marine as they arrive.

Stand tall young brother….. you are the beacon helping us all find our way home..

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An enormous crowd gathered to pay final respects to PFC Tyler Wechsler. The video below is an uncut version of the last part of the ceremony.

PFC Wechsler funeral – Sunday 1 May 2017 0900 – Atlantic C0unty Veterans Cemetery

2017 Brigantine Polar Plunge to Benefit Fisher House Veteran’s Charity

Last Salute was pleased to help the city of Brigantine New Jersey raise money for Fisher House, a veteran’s charity. Last Salute brought out the hardware, our military vehicles and of course our cannon, the “Jaime Lee”. We fired the cannon to signal the start of the plunge. Thank you Brigantine for your support to our nations military and veterans!!!

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Brigantine Veterans Day 2016

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Northfield Veterans Park

Last Salute was honored to participate in the November 2016 dedication of the Northfield Veterans Park

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Last Salute Appears at Atlantic City 9-11 Memorial Ceremony

Sgt. at Arms Chuck Knutson and Lcpl Klye Ragland present the flag to JoAnne Saracini, sister of Captain Victor Saracini a former Navy pilot who was the Captain on flight 175

Last Salute was honored to appear at Atlantic City’s 9-11 Memorial Ceremony on September 11th 2016. The elaborate ceremony included many Police officers and Fire fighters. The National Anthem was sung by Miss America and Atlantic City’s Mayor was Master of Ceremony.

Last Salute fired the “Jaime Lee”, our Civil War cannon twice. Our rifle squad fired multiple times as well.

Sgt. at Arms Chuck Knutson and Lcpl Kyle Ragland folded and presented a flag to Mrs. JoAnne Saracini whose brother was a pilot on one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center, United Airlines 175. He was a former Navy Pilot that then flew for United Airlines.

SARACINI VICTOR J., age 51, Captain of United Airlines Flight 175, died on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001. Originally from Atlantic City N.J.,

We took a large number of photos and have posted about 130 here.

The Last Salute Rifle Squad fires 3 volleys in honor of the those lost on 9-11

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Building and Christening the “Jaime Lee”, Last Salute’s Memorial Civil War Cannon

Christening the “Jaime Lee” with a special bottle of beer made by our friends at Backward Flag Brewing

After months of research, parts ordering, blueprint study, historical documentary viewing, welding, sanding, painting, sawing, filing, assembling and testing, the “Jaime Lee” a Mountain Howitzer 12 pounder Civil War cannon is complete.

The christening date of July 4, 2016 was met but it came down to the wire with final completion tasks finished on July 3rd. The cannon was officially christened at 7am at the Absecon VFW on July 4th.

Our friends at Backward Flag Brewing in Lacey Township NJ made a special bottle of beer just for the christening. Backward Flag is owned by combat veterans and does a lot to support veterans.

Immediately following the christening, the cannon was transported to Smithville to take the lead in the Galloway 4th of July Parade along with the “Last Salute” Honor Guard.

After the parade, the cannon was fired by Galloway Township’s Police Chief, Donna Higbee.

The “Jaime Lee” roars as it’s fired by Police Chief Donna Higbee in front of the Smithville Inn on July 4th

Building the new cannon artillery carriage was an amazing experience. Knowing what the cannon was to be used for made the entire process more meaningful. It required a great deal more work and research than originally anticipated but it was absolutely worth all the effort. Please check out some photos from the build below.

Click here to see some of the heroes that have fired our cannon

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Military Honor Guard Funeral Services

Atlantic County NJ Military Honor Guard Funeral Services

Gun Salute
Flag Folding & Presentation
Honor Guard
Gun Carriage
Taps
Casket Guard

Prayer Box Flown Over DC & Arlington by Coast Guard

Coast Guard MH-65 flanked by Last Salute’s Humvees

We carry them with us, we remember, we honor………………… we will not forget them.

Last Salute would like to thank the United States Coast Guard for helping us honor the heroes placed in our Prayer Box by flying them over restricted air space in Washington DC and over Arlington National Cemetery. We would like to the thank the flight crew that made this incredible honor mission happen, pilots, Jeff Graham and LT Christi McGee as well as Flight Mechanic AET1 Aimee Duncan.