Memorials - Page 49 of 50

Last Salute Receives Coveted “Yellow Ribbon” Award From Tony Orlando at Borgata

Tony Orlando presents Last Salute the “Yellow Ribbon” award. Sgt. at Arms Chuck Knutson accepting.

Last Salute military funeral honor guard was extremely honored to receive the annual “Yellow Ribbon” veteran’s award from Tony Orlando during his concert at the Borgata on August 22nd 2017. The Borgata’s head of special events, Sally Nickel, brought Last salute to the attention of Tony Orlando. Mr. Orlando has been a very big supporter of our nation’s military and its veterans his entire career. His hit song “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Around the Old Oak Tree” is the reason that Americans place yellow ribbons on trees while loved ones are deployed with the military. The Borgata held this concert and special welcoming ceremony for this year’s Atlantic City Air Show and to honor veterans. We would like to thank them for all their dedication and effort to produce such a top notch event in our military’s honor. It was an amazing experience and we want to wholeheartedly thank Tony Orlando and the Borgata for their recognition of Last Salute. Last Salute is an all-volunteer unit and is seeking additional volunteers to help provide military funeral ceremonies in the Atlantic County area. Contact Last Salute at [email protected]

Last Salute with the Borgata’s head of special events, Sally Nickel with Last Salute’s Civil War cannon and “yellow Ribbon” award.

Last Salute Receives Coveted “Yellow Ribbon” Award From Tony Orlando at Borgata

Last Salute military funeral honor guard was extremely honored to receive the coveted “Yellow Ribbon” veteran’s award from Tony Orlando during his concert at the Borgata on August 22nd 2017. The Borgata’s head of special events, Sally Nickel, brought Last salute to the attention of Tony Orlando. Mr. Orlando has been a very big supporter of our nation’s military and its veterans his entire career. His hit song “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Around the Old Oak Tree” is the reason that Americans place yellow ribbons on trees while loved ones are deployed with the military. The Borgata held this concert and special welcoming ceremony for this year’s Atlantic City Air Show and to honor veterans. We would like to thank them for all their dedication and effort to produce such a top notch event in our military’s honor. It was an amazing experience and we want to wholeheartedly thank Tony Orlando and the Borgata for their recognition of Last Salute.

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.

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

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”.

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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Old Assumption Church Continues To Serve

The recently removed old Assumption Church on the White Horse Pike served the Galloway community for almost 100 years. It was the site of countless weddings, christenings, funerals and services. In our effort to preserve Galloway history and to conserve our communities enduring intrinsic memories, we asked to have some of the interior wood salvaged from the old church. Luckily, Father Nick Dudo and Joe Picardi, a representative of the church not only had preserved some of the wood but were kind enough to share it with us. Ray Ring from the church met us to make the wood available. The church has also saved part of the steeple, the cross and the cornerstone. We felt that using the wood to build items for our Military Funeral Honor Guard, “Last Salute”, would be a great way to repurpose and preserve something of such sentimental value. We have built two wonderful and unique pieces from the wood so far. First, we needed to build a stand for our recently acquired funeral bell. This large solid brass bell required a very sturdy stand that could be moved from one location to another frequently so in addition to framing lumber, we used the church wood as ornamental additions in the shape of big stars along the top beams. The bell stand turned out beautifully and is used at veterans funerals as well as other community events.

The second piece is a box used to hold the prayer cards which we collect. Each time we preform a military funeral ceremony, we take a prayer card that is generally made as a remembrance. All of these cards are now stored in the newly constructed box. They travel to each funeral for which we conduct services and a new card is added. The box pictured here was built by Chuck Knutson and master craftsman Steve Amadio who was also instrumental in the construction of our Civil War cannon the “Jaime Lee”. Upon the top of the box, the official “Last Salute” prayer has been carved.

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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Last Salute Honored by 4 Seasons Veterans Club

We were extremely honored to be recognized recently by the 4 Seasons Veterans Club. The 4 Seasons Veterans Club gathers about once a month and often invites a speaker. We were very pleased when they asked “Last Salute” military funeral guard to visit.

The 4 Seasons Veterans Club was particularly interested in the effort and services provided by Last Salute. It was our distinct pleasure to address the assembled veterans club.

We brought along our full size civil war cannon, the “Jaime Lee” to display along with other items which we use during ceremonies such as swords, rifles, bugle and flags. We thoroughly enjoyed speaking about the free services we provide and answered questions afterword.

We would like to sincerely thank the club for the opportunity to speak to them and for the beautiful statue which they presented us.

Thank you for your service 4 Seasons Vets………..

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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Medal of Honor Recipients Visit Absecon VFW

Medal of Honor recipients Tom Kelley and Brian Thacker visited the Absecon VFW for lunch while in town for the Marine Corps Law Enforcement event. The VFW put out a very gracious spread with the help of Chef Elio from the Rams Head in Galloway.

While there, the Medal of Honor recipients signed Last Salute’s Humvee and trailer which are both used primarily for veterans funeral services as part of Last Salute Honor Guard.

There are 12 Medal of Honor recipient signatures in the Humvee. We are extremely proud to have them to help us honor those we provide services for.

Dr. Nina of Fox News was there to meet the heroes and to thank everyone at the VFW for their service.

Medal of Honor recipient Tom Kelley signs the Humvee for the Galloway Patriot

Absegami Wood Shop Community Service

Galloway Patriot Publisher Chuck Knutson addressing Absegami students about community service

Absegami High School Students under the direction of Donald Matousch, Teacher of Woods Technology, created thirty six amazingly constructed canes for disabled Veterans this year. The members of Last Salute Military Funeral Honor Guard from VFW Post 9462 Absecon, went to the High School on Thursday, May 26th to not only accept the canes but to speak to the students about Veterans and how their hard work on the canes will provide many Veterans the ability to stand on their own. Last Salute Members included: Sergeant at Arms Chuck Knutson and Lance Corporal Taylor Speirs, United States Marine Corps.

Military Funeral Honor Guard Acquires Civil War Cannon

Last Salute, the Military Funeral Honor Guard, has recently acquired a Civil War cannon for use at military funerals and veteran’s ceremonies. The “Jaime Lee” is scheduled to be christened on July 4th at 7am in front of the Absecon VFW building. The Honor Guard is awaiting the wheels and axle for the cannon’s field carriage. The building of the carriage will be done by Chuck Knutson with the help of Schairer Bros. Saw Mill in Galloway, as well as Steve Amadio and will consist of locally sourced white oak. The wheels are solid hickory and are being built by the same carriage company that built the funeral hearse for President Abraham Lincoln. The cannon is a Mountain Howitzer 12 pounder and will weigh close to 1000 pounds when completed. It was forged at a foundry in Missouri and a blacksmith in Tennessee forged the carriage hardware. The “Jaime Lee” is in the foreground in the photo above. Behind the cannon is the Honor Guard Marine Artillery Unit and the Honor Guard Rifle Squad flanked by the VFW Post 9462 Commander Bob Dunn. We would welcome the help of any local woodworking craftsman or metal workers willing to donate their time to help with this important community project. Contact Chuck Knutson if you would like to help at 609-780-7432. To learn more about the free veteran’s services the Honor Guard provides, visit www.LastSalute.US

MEMORIAL DAY 2016

Establish a perimeter….if you want to sleep safely.…if you want your family….your loved ones….to sleep safely….. Establish a perimeter……..

A single person…. such as a president or a governor establishes a perimeter to provide safety…security…

That security is provided by armed men and women willing to sacrifice everything….not necessarily for a person….but for a greater purpose.

We the people…of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice and insure domestic tranquility have established such a perimeter……. to provide our country……..our people…….with the safety….the security….within which we may live and prosper….where we may raise our families…where we may break bread in the security and safety provided by those willing to lay their lives upon the altar of freedom….

The men and women of the United States military whom have made the ultimate sacrifice…..the solemn gift of faith and blood…..believe in a greater purpose.

The preservation of freedom…………

If you are willing to fight….you may…or can… provide yourself freedom…..if you are willing to fight…to give this freedom to others…to others you may not even know….to others you may not agree with…to others, unlike yourself….to others that may not support you…………it is an endeavor of the greatest honor……for only those among us with the courage… the character….the commitment……….to the greater purpose of freedom for all men……have been blessed with the true serenity bestowed through selfless sacrifice…….

On this day………..Memorial Day…….we the people…..remember…….we honor……those who have bled for us………..those who have died for us.

We must honor them…….we must always remember them….we must hold their names…their sacrifice…..in high honor. The gift they have given us is a bond of trust….a trust we must not violate……it is the trust….. that we will not squander or surrender the freedom they have provided us.

Do not become complacent in your freedom….celebrate your freedom…honor those that have preserved it……let us raise our flag to honor them….to remember them….

If you possess the flag of our great country…..raise it…..raise it outside your home. If you do not have a flag……..get one…….raise it…….raise it high a-top a pole or alongside your front door….keep it there.

Be proud of our military……..be proud of our people…….Be proud to be an American……

Chuck Knutson
Publisher, Galloway Patriot

Sgt. at Arms
Military Funeral Honor Guard
www.LastSalute.US

Please remember what Memorial Day is for……………….