Ramp Ceremony

Hey followers.
As you have no doubt noticed, I try to make light of the things and circumstances in my life, particularly on this deployment. But this post will be different. Tonight I attended a Ramp Ceremony.
Every time a hero falls in our area of the theater, their bodies are brought to Kandahar and prepared for travel back to the States. For each and every one of the fallen, there is a Ramp Ceremony. There are several every week, which is far more than I care to think about. They park an aircraft, in this case a C-17 (a rather large plane) on the ramp with its tail door open. The “task force” - those of us in attendance - stand in formation on both sides of the path leading to the tail of the plane. Once the ceremony begins, everybody is called to attention. Tonight, there were several hundred servicemen/women in the formation. A military pastor says a few words and leads a prayer. The group is called to present arms, and everyone renders a salute as the casket is carried past the formation on the shoulders of men from the deceased’s unit. Tonight, the soldier was a Green Beret, so the casket was followed by a soldier playing a hymn on the bagpipes. The casket is carried up the tail of the plane and set down in the cargo hold. Taps is played. The colors – the American flag and the Army flag - are retired and the formation marches off the ramp to be dismissed. In all, it lasted about 20 minutes.
As I said earlier, there are several of these ceremonies during the week. The time of the ceremony is based on the availability of the plane and the remains, so they happen at all times of the day or night. The times are distributed via e-mail to all at KAF. I happened to find myself available at the set time tonight and it was recommended that I attend at least one during my time in theater. So I decided to go.
I did not know the fallen soldier. There was only handful of people there who did. I surmised from what the pastor said that he was a medic killed in the line of duty. He is survived by his parents and a sister, so I figured he was rather young. As we were dismissed and I was walking from the area, I noticed a small group of soldiers, all wearing green berets, standing and looking at the plane. So, I stole a look over my shoulder to see what they were looking at. As emotional as the ceremony was, this sight hit me the hardest. There, in the middle of that large cargo area, was a lone, flag draped coffin. The sole cargo for this mission. His friends stayed to watch the cargo bay door close.
I’ve been here in Afghanistan for 34 days. Attending this ceremony was the most worthwhile thing I have done.
Thanks for listening.

-Dave