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Bringing Airmen home—Scott AFB presents full military funeral honors to 3 service members

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Melissa Estevez
  • 375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  

Members of the Scott Honor Guard had the privilege of presenting full military funeral honors to three special servicemembers earlier this year:

·         Tech. Sgt. Leonard Unger, 36, of St. Clair, Mo;

·         Airman 1st Class George Ingram, 23, of Beloit, Wis; and

·         Airman 2nd Class Thomas Condon, 19, of Waukesha, Wis.

The honored Airmen were three of 52 passengers and crew members who were aboard a C-124 Globemaster that departed from McChord AFB, Wash., on Nov. 22, 1952 and was scheduled to land at Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage, Alaska.

A distress call from the C-124 was received, but due to poor reception it was faintly heard. The northwest captain made out the sentence: “As long as we have to land, we might as well land here.”

No further communication was received from the C-124, and the plane never arrived to Elmendorf AFB.

Search efforts could not begin until three days after the disappearance of the C-124 due to the poor weather conditions in the area.

On June 28, 2012, the U.S. military announced the discovery of the wreckage. Shortly thereafter a recovery operation was started by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command. More than half of the victims have been recovered and identified since the wreckage of the C-124 was discovered.

Because the Scott Honor Guard has a large area of responsibility—the third largest in the Air Force—it was tasked to provide services for the three Airmen, two in May and one in July.

Scott’s Honor Guard covers 110,000 square miles, comprises 208 counties, and includes the entire state of Illinois and parts of Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.

Over 40 honor guardsmen across 32 career fields, ranging from civil engineers to finance, serve in the Scott AFB HG as volunteers for a four or six-month rotation.

Airmen often perform funeral honors with servicemembers of other branches with little to no prep time with the goal of ensuring the deceased servicemember receives the honors they deserve.

“My most memorable detail was when I did a joint service funeral with the Army. The Army servicemembers folded the flag and handed it off to me,” said Staff Sgt. Terrence Jasso, a lead trainer for the Honor Guard from the 375th Medical Support Squadron.

“I presented the flag to the spouse because the deceased was in the Army then transferred into the Air Force before passing.”

He also said that being in the Honor Guard has given him greater respect for the Air Force outside of his job.

“You get to meet a large amount of people from different career fields and you learn to respect and appreciate other people and what they do. It has pushed me to be better in my job,” Jasso said.

The Scott AFB Honor Guard falls under the direction of the 375th Force Support Squadron, and they provide military funeral honors for all active duty members, retirees, and veterans who have served honorably in the Army Air Corps, Army Air Forces or the Air Force.

The Honor Guard also provides “Colors” support for promotions, retirements, change-of-commands, recognition ceremonies, and other base/civic activities. The ultimate goal of the Honor Guard is “To Honor with Dignity.”

Master Sgt. Clayton Halpain, 375th FSS Honor Guard NCO in charge, said, “Being in the Honor Guard helps re-instill the pride and discipline that (Airmen) gain (while) in basic training and technical school.”

Staff Sgt. Darrien Miller, an Honor Guard volunteer from the 92nd Cyber Operations Squadron Detachment 1, added that “so much coordination is involved because of the amount of people in the ceremony. When you see all the crisp and precise movements that are coordinated more times without verbal cues it is very impressive.”

At the end of each service, the Honor Guard takes the flag draped on the casket of the deceased and folds it 13 times in a triangle to represent the 13 original colonies and then they present it to the next of kin or appropriate family member.

Their final words to the family member state: “On behalf of the President of the United States, the United States Air Force, and a grateful Nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one's honorable and faithful service.”