The Honor Guard honors the fallen

Commander Jack Hoskinson and his wife, Lois, are passionate about seeing that former military servicemen can be buried with a flag ceremony.

In the past five years, they have performed such rituals at about 1,000 funerals — all at no cost and virtually all for people they never knew.

They began with an American Legion post in Broken Arrow, but when that group elected not to continue such services, they went out on their own. They incorporated the American Veterans Honor Guard “to provide full military funeral honors for active-duty members, retirees and veterans who served honorably in any branch of the American Armed Forces,” according to the Honor Guard Web site.

The Honor Guard consists of Jack, the commander; Lois, the adjutant; their son and his wife; and half a dozen longtime friends. But Jack and Lois do almost all the funeral ceremonies themselves.

“They are a great couple, they do a great job,” says Carole Coleman, a funeral director who has worked with them for about six years.

Their service is “very meaningful … very symbolic, it gets you in the heart,” says another funeral director, Lyndal McMillan.

John Lay, a minister who has worked with the Hoskinsons both at funerals and at a Claremore veterans’ center, where he is a chaplain, called their ceremony “very professional and very respectful.”

Families agree. 

“Everybody is just more than pleased with the service they do,” says Agatha Asher Morton of Bristow, who has used the Hoskinsons in three family funerals. “I’ve seen others (perform flag ceremonies) but not near what they do.”

Part of what distinguishes the Honor Guard ceremony is speaking. Many honor ceremonies, including those provided by active military and similar units, are silent, with a ritual folding of the American flag and its presentation to the widow or other family members, a rifle salute and a concluding “Taps” on a bugle.

In an Honor Guard ceremony, Jack offers some comments about the branch of military in which the deceased served and talks about the importance of preserving freedom and the American life. Then he plays “Taps” and fires a three-shot salute from a rifle. He then presents the flag. Lois also presents to the widow or family member a poppy — a symbol of those killed during World War I — and a “bent shell” — the empty casings from the salute.

The overall ceremony is “Very, very good … brings to life what it’s about … so personal and heartfelt,” Lay says.

At the Claremore center, on the first Friday of every month, the Hoskinsons organize a special but similar ceremony, honoring all the veterans who died the previous month.

“It is obvious they love to do it and it is an honor to do it,” Lay says.

The Hoskinsons will go almost anywhere in eastern Oklahoma. They also organize parades, school graduations and other events when asked.

The Hoskinsons never charge, although they accept donations and honorariums. Some years those offset the personal expenses, mainly gasoline and travel, but last year they did not. The Hoskinsons make up the difference with their Social Security income.

Funeral homes arrange for the flags, which are generally provided free from the government to those who can prove military service with honorable discharge. Funeral homes also contact the Hoskinsons when families request a flag ceremony. Some families prefer regular military services, from units at Fort Sill, Tinker Air Force Base or other installations. But those are not always easily arranged and usually are reserved for career servicemen or those killed on duty.

Flag ceremonies usually are done at the graveside, but the Hoskinsons have done some in chapels or churches, when families requested or circumstances prohibited an outdoor service.

Jack served in the Army during the Korean War, then became a salesman in his native Kansas. The couple came to Tulsa in 1964, Jack as an insurance salesman. Then he and Lois operated a beauty shop for 10 years before he became a Tulsa Transit driver.

After their retirement, Lois says that they “realized veterans were being buried without a ceremony.” They were retired and looking for something to occupy their time. Now, she says, “Our time is well occupied.”

Taps

The secret to a perfect “Taps” may lie more with the bugle than with the bugler.

Many who perform that traditional tune at funerals, Boy Scout campfires and myriad other events now rely not so much on musical skill and training but on technology. It’s possible — and almost universal — to get a bugle that actually comes with a small recording device.

Just turn it on and it will produce a flawless “Taps” every time.

Even many of those military units that include “Taps” in various rituals use the special bugles.

At one event, a military bugler was heard to brag, “Never miss a note.”

An expert and somewhat cynical observer then commented: “Yes, until your batteries die.”

It was once again our honor and privilege to be
called upon to post the colors for
The University of Oklahoma
Health Sciences Center
College of Nursing
Convocation
Class of 2010
Check out our photo gallery for pictures from this event!

The Marine Corps League presented a
Certificate of Appreciation
to American Veterans Honor Guard
for Loyalty and Patriotism in Our Country
as exemplified by your support of the
2010 Tulsa Medal of Honor Day Ceremony.

We were honored to be able to participate in the
Medal of Honor Day Ceremony
at the Veterans' Park, 21st and Boulder
Guest of Honor ~ Medal of Honor Recipient, Vietnam War
Lieutenant Colonel Harold A. Fritz, USA (Ret.)
with special Guest
Sergeant Lisa M. Bodenburg, USMC
Helicopter Crew Chief, Iraq and Afghanistan

We were honored to provide transportation and support for the
Victory Belles Troupe from the
National World War II Museum in New Orleans
as they visited the Jack C. Montgomery Veterans Clinic in Muskogee, OK
and the Claremore Veterans Center in Claremore, OK
as they provided USO style entertainment and encouragement
for our Veterans.
Check out our photo gallery for pictures from this event!

The following link was brought to our attention recently and we
wanted to share it with our friends. Please take the time to visit
this site in tribute to our veterans.
"BEFORE YOU GO"

We were honored to provide transportation and support for the
American Belles Troupe
as they visited the Jack C. Montgomery Veterans Clinic in Muskogee, OK
and the Claremore Veterans Center in Claremore, OK
as they provided USO style entertainment and encouragement
for our Veterans.
Click on this link to see photos!

The Marine Corps League presented the
Silver Distinguished Citizen Medal
to Jack Hoskinson and Lois Hoskinson
for their having performed over eight hundred funerals
for Tulsa area veterans.

We were honored to participate in a Veterans Day Ceremony conducted at
the Oakhaven Cemetery at Claremore, Oklahoma on November 8th.

Then we proudly represented our Veterans in the Tulsa Veterans Day Parade
on Veterans Day, November 11th.

On November 16th we again represented the American Veterans Honor Guard
at the Tulsa Promenade Mall's special "Magical Night of Giving".
We wish to thank all of the sponsors and the Promenade Mall for their
warm generosity, dedication and hard work to sponsor this event
annually to benefit a variety of charitable organization in Tulsa!
Thank You!

348th Army Engineers Combat Battalion
43rd Annual Reunion

We were honored to participate in 43rd Annual Reunion with the
348th Army Engineers Combat Battalion on Sept. 26, 2008.

The Honored Veterans were: Andy Anderson, Jerry Berns, Don Gordon,
Salvador Guerrero, John McGraw, Richard Powell, Art Sedillo, Guy West,
and LaVerne (Bud) Young.

Their ceremony consisted of the following:
Welcome ~ Jane Powell Faulkenberry
Presentation of Colors ~ Intertribal Indian Club of Tulsa, Veterans Color Guard
National Anthem ~ Larry Bowles, Tulsa Fire Captain, Ret.
Invocation ~ Rev. Art Sedillo
Proclamation ~ Matt Stiner, City of Tulsa, Director of Veterans Affairs
Reading ~ Jane Powell Faulkenberry
Roll Call ~ Colonel Richard Powell
Reading ~ Kathy Powell Thompson
Playing of Taps ~ Cecil Hoskinson, American Veterans Honor Guard

ENGINEER'S POEM

We lay down their rolling roads
And cut down all the trees
And if the orders ever came,
We'd forge the raging seas.

Whenever they want to sleep awhile
We put them up a town,
And we build the blasted bridges
So the infantry won't drown.

We get them over rivers
And across the mountain streams
Do everything but tuck them in
And with them pleasant dreams;

And when the going's really rough
And bombs burst in their ears,
A whole division is apt to pray,
"God, send the Engineers!"

While we are unable to provide an individual service for each fallen veteran,
we are pleased and honored to include each individual represented during the service
in our Roll of Honor pages as a memorial to them and their families.

Be sure to take a look at our Roll of Honor pages and remember these
veterans who gave so much for their country, families and loved ones.

It has also been our honor to participate in several parades,
a variety of flag postings, Memorial Day ceremonies and other events.
We are always pleased to provide these services throughout the year
as well as our funeral services for our military men and women.

Remember also all of our military men and women currently
serving to make this country what it is
and give us the freedoms that we have and cherish.

VETERANS DAY

We were honored to participate in a variety of
activities on this special occasion of Veterans Day 2007.
In the morning we were honored to be present at the Claremore Assembly of God
as they honored the Veterans in a ceremony at their church.

Then at 2 p.m. that afternoon we were honored to participate at a Veterans
ceremony at the Oak Haven Memorial Gardens, also in Claremore.
This year the Veterans being honored on the Avenue of Flags were:
Earl Rogers McLaughlin ~ James E. Umberson ~ Donn Richard MacCourt
Julian P. Gordon ~ Roland L. Colbert ~ Quentin D. Gentry (Bud)
Gerald Lee Gilliam ~ J.C. Davis ~ Gerald Carrigan
Clay Coffman ~ Cecil Doyle ~ Eldon Mohler
William "Bill" England ~ Jake Brown ~ John T. Walton, Sr.
Roger M. Leber ~ Jesse Blackwell ~ Jack K. Embree
Edward Morris ~ Kenneth Hairston

We then finished the evening at the Promenade Mall where we
joined in with many other Non-Profit organizations in a special
Magical Night of Giving sponsored by many fine shops and companies.

Be sure to take a look at our Roll of Honor pages and remember these
veterans who gave so much for their country, families and loved ones.

Remember also all of our military men and women currently
serving to make this country what it is
and give us the freedoms that we have and cherish.

The year of 2006 was very busy year for us.
We were honored to perform Military Honor Guard services
for 201 of our brave departed veterans.
We were also honored to serve in a variety of parades,
flag dedications and other various ceremonies through the year.

Be sure to take a look at our Roll of Honor pages and remember the
veterans who gave so much for their country, families and loved ones.
Remember not only these whom we were honored to give
their final military honors, but remember also all of
the others who gave of their lives to make this country what it is
and give us the freedoms that we have and cherish.

Remember also all the veterans living still and those who are
currently serving their country. When you see a veteran
thank them for the sacrifices they made for all of us and their country.

We are looking forward to 2007 and wish all of our friends a Happy New Year!