On behalf of a grateful nation...

When Melvin Rhodes is your father,

you learn at any early age that dying is a part of living.

You also learn not to shy away from death.

So, I have been to a lot of funerals.

Therefore, it came as a shock to realize,

as I heard the notes of Taps being played by Adrian Vaaler,

one of Dad's buddies from Vietnam,

that I had never attended a funeral with military components.

Years ago, Dad and I had discussed that his casket would be covered with the American flag instead of flowers. I understood that.

I didn't realize that the flag would be held aloft as Taps played.

It never occurred to me that as I sat beside my mother,
one of our closest family friends,
Sam Gross (Dad considered Sam to be a son he never had),
would present the flag to her with these words:

This flag is presented

on behalf of a grateful nation

and the United States Army

as a token of appreciation

for your loved one's

honorable and faithful service.

We accept this flag

 as a token of remembrance

 of an amazing man's honorable and faithful service 

to not only his nation,

but also to his family and friends.