1166 TTribune/Sentinelribune/Sentinel FFriday,riday, JanuaryJanuary 8,8, 22021021 National Guard conducts fewer funeral honors in 2020 due to pandemic READMEDIA Spc. Austin Dycha and Sgt. Nikole The Army Pandemic restrictions on funeral Clark drape the fl ag over the casket National Guard’s eight services resulted in New York Army of U.S. Army Air Force Cpl. Ray- military funeral honors and honor guard mond Kegler at his May 14, funeral offi ces normally conduct teams providing over 2,000 fewer in Lackawanna. 700 funerals each month, military funeral services in 2020 Moran said. In March, than in 2019. maintains honor guards at its fi ve April and June 2020, The honor guard soldiers and air- airbases and the Eastern Air De- those numbers dropped. men expected to conduct 8,835 mili- fense Sector headquarters in Rome. In March, there were tary honors at veteran’s funerals by Restrictions on the number of peo- 513 funeral missions, the end of 2020. ple who could be present at funerals which went down to 229 In 2019, the New York Army and early in the pandemic and many fam- in April, 337 in May and Air National Guard provided mili- ilies deciding to not hold a formal 511 in June before climb- tary honors for 11,006 families. burial, or funeral, drove the decline ing back up to the aver- The New York Army and Air Na- in numbers, said Peter Moran, the age when restrictions on tional Guard provided military buri- coordinator for the New York Army funeral attendance were al honors 11,326 times in 2018 and National Guard’s military funeral loosened, Moran said. 11,170 times in 2017. honors program. New York, and espe- A 2000 federal law mandates for- A Veterans Administration deci- cially mer members of the U.S. military sion to discontinue graveside ser- and its suburbs, were hit who served on active duty or the vices and military funeral honors at early by the COVID-19 reserves and who did not receive a national cemeteries for part of the pandemic. dishonorable discharge are eligible year also drove the decline in funer- The New York Army for military funeral honors. al missions, Moran said. risk caused the decline.” der, who heads the Niagara Falls Air National Guard has honor guard All former service members’ fu- Air National Guard Tech Sgt. Funeral homes were conducting Reserve Station Base Honor Guard. offi ces in , , Long nerals must include the folding and Anthony Villalon, the noncom- funerals quickly and not requesting While the COVID-19 pandemic Island, Latham, Buffalo, Rochester, presenting of an American fl ag to his missioned offi cer in charge of the honors, although funeral directors played a signifi cant part in this, Sny- Syracuse and Horseheads. or her survivors and the playing of honor guard for the 106th Rescue said they expected to request mili- der said he thinks many families put As of Dec. 23, New York Army taps. The two-person teams usually Wing at Gabreski Air National tary honors at later memorial ser- off services until their loved one National Guard military funeral use an electronic bugle – a bugle Guard Base, said his teams also vices, according to Master Sgt. Sara could be interred in a new veterans teams had provided honors for 7,005 with a sound system and speaker were invited to fewer funerals: “We Pastorello, the public affairs super- cemetery that opened on Dec. 18. families. It was expected the funeral inside. saw a signifi cant decline in the intendent for the 105th Airlift Wing The Niagara Falls honor guard is teams would conduct 145 more fu- The New York Army National months of March, April and May. at Stewart Air National Guard Base a joint function of the Air National nerals by Dec. 31, for a total of 7,190, Guard provides funeral honors These months are usually are busi- in the . Guard’s 107th Attack Wing and the Moran said. through a centralized program. est months, I believe the lockdowns “We just stopped receiving re- Air Force Reserve’s 914th Air Refu- The New York Army National The New York Air National Guard and the overall impact of COVID quests,” said Master Sgt. Ryan Sny- eling Wing. Guard provides honors for those who served in the Army or, in the case of World War II veterans, the Army Air Forces. The teams in performed 3,415 military funeral honors in 2019. In 2020, they pro- vided honors 2,880 times. Families who decided to forgo Joseph Karl military honors can apply for them Marine to be conducted later through their funeral director, Moran said. NCCC Nursing ’21 There are 40 soldiers who work full-time providing military funeral honors and another 50 who can be called upon on a part-time basis when required, according to Moran. In 2020, New York Air National Guard honors teams took part in

BEFORE AFTER 1,639 funeral services (as of Dec. 23), and expected to provide honors 46 more times before Jan. 1, for a to- tal of 1,685. In 2019, the New York Air National Guard conducted 2,403 NIAGARA COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE military funeral honors services. Both Army and Air Guard honor’s teams had to change the way they A Veteran Friendly do things to cope with the pandem- ic. The Army National Guard honor Campus guard soldiers immediately began wearing masks, Moran said. They • Maximize your military education benefits also practiced staying 6 feet away • Service veterans and their dependents from mourners. Air Guard honor guard teams also using military benefits began wearing masks and practicing • More than 50 degree and certificate programs social distancing. At Niagara Falls, • Flexible learning including in-person and Snyder’s wife sewed face masks for the team when the supply system online options to best suit your needs could not provide white masks. The most signifi cant change was during the presentation of the fl ag to Spring classes start the veteran’s family, Moran said. Traditionally, the leader of the $ January 19th! team kneels and presents the fl ag 500 Register at niagaracc.suny.edu/spring to a family member on “behalf of a grateful nation.” OFF Any Full Perimeter Instead, the fl ag was folded and Waterproofing System with placed on the coffi n or behind a Sump Pump cremains urn and the soldier made Cannot be combined with any other offer. Not Questions? valid for prior work, must be presented and their remarks from 6 feet away, he redeemed at time of estimate. 2/5/2021. Schedule a said. 1-on-1 appointment The Air Guard made this change FINANCING AVAILABLE with NCCC’s Veteran too and it was tough, Villalon said. “It was a learning curve not being Services Coordinator able to be as social with the mourn- ers as possible. It has been a unique challenge for us, because we are a Joseph Potalivo, Veteran Services people person function of the Air 716-614-6283 • [email protected] Force.” Funeral honors by offi ce and Air niagaracc.suny.edu/veterans Base for 2020 and 2019: √ New York Army National Guard. •Buffalo: 830 in 2020, 963 in 2019 716-271-2662 NIAGARA COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE √ New York Air National Guard •107th Attack Wing/914th Airlift 3111 Saunders Settlement Road • Sanborn, NY 14132 FranksInNiagara.com Wing, Niagara Falls Air Reserve Sta- 716-614-6222 • niagaracc.suny.edu tion, Niagara Falls: 361 in 2020 and 412 in 2019