DAVID MAMARIL HOROWITZ

david.horowitz@bgdailynews.com

RUSSELLVILLE — In the small backyard of a nondescript Russellville office building, Kip Black directs three veterans wielding mock rifles through a ceremonial shooting display for military funerals known as the three-volley salute. They march indoors to a table that represents a casket.

Timothy Alexander, staying behind, plays “Taps,” the call sounded at these funerals, on the bugle. Richard Ewald recites the ceremonial narration as two of the veterans, Jason Tippett and Gerald Head, customarily fold the flag. Rick McCormick, the founder of this Logan County Honor Guard, presents it to an empty chair representing the relative of the deceased veteran.

The Honor Guard drills again and again, no excess sound, in solemnness, composure and – Taps, narration and the flag presentation aside – utter silence.

“ … we’ve got the family watching,” Head said after the drill ends.

“We’re honoring the person … That is our whole reason for doing this.”

The seven-person guard, which held its first service in May, has served four veterans’ families. Wendy Penrod, the daughter of a Russellville veteran who died in May, said that Fort Campbell had sent three soldiers who presented her the flag as the oldest child – and Logan County Honor Guard also attended at her request, complementing the soldiers’ service with their own three-volley salute and flags for her two siblings.

“It meant the world,” the Logan County native said. “My dad would have loved it.”

McCormick is trying to expand so they can cover Warren, Muhlenberg and Todd counties – “anything around the area.”

“I believe in my heart of hearts we need it,” McCormick said.

They coordinate with the area funeral directors to meet families’ needs, usually on a two-day notice, and even if the call’s from Warren County, he said. In his time in the Navy, McCormick performed some 300-plus military funerals, he said – and he cross-trains the crew of volunteers to execute the service, which typically requires around 16.

When families mention to funeral directors that a deceased relative was a veteran, the director normally asks if they want military honors, said Rich Darby, founder of the national nonprofit Operation Honor Guard, which raises money for uniforms and other resources so Honor Guards can carry out their duties. The Department of Defense is required to provide military honors for veterans, he added, but sometimes it can’t due to busyness, and in those cases, funeral directors often turn to local, volunteer-run Honor Guards to provide the full military detail.

There are nearly 10,000 volunteer Honor Guards in the U.S., Darby said. But he added that the need is still out there.

Joey Young, head of Young Funeral Home in Logan County, said several honor guards in the broader region cover areas such as Barren County, Simpson County and Pennyrile. But these are often tied up prioritizing their own coverage areas, and making the trip to Logan County often isn’t feasible, he said: “Going county to county could be a full-time duty.”

Full 21-gun salutes are reserved for those who die on active duty or retire after serving 20-plus years, Young said. The guards can offer additional honors, he added – which, McCormick said, entails a three-volley salute.

“(The Logan County Honor Guard) gives our veterans here the chance for more military honors, quicker,” Young said.

McCormick pursued the guard late last year after planning his own funeral and learning more about how veterans won’t always get a military service.

“My dad didn’t get his military funeral,” McCormick said. “As long as I have a breath in me, it’s not going to happen to any other veteran.

“ … Veterans put their lives on hold and on the line to serve this country … The least we can do is honor them the way they should be honored, which is a full military funeral when they pass.”

So long as the Logan County Honor Guard can reach a funeral service in time in the area, they won’t turn a family down, McCormick said. They also respect families’ decisions on which services they’d want, such as whether to hold the three-volley salute.

The team practices weekly at the small office building on North Main Street in Russellville. Donations fund rent and utilities for the office, uniforms and transportation, with not a penny going to him or the other volunteers, he said. When McCormick gets the call, the team drives out in multiple vehicles.

Jason Tippett, one of the Logan County guard veterans, said families’ gratitude hit home.

“Being able to pay the final tribute to the brothers and the sisters that we’re losing, the honor alone is well worth the investment,” Tippett said.

Logan County resident Peggy Vick expressed appreciation for the honor and respect they bestowed on her husband. He had served in the Marines during the Vietnam War and commented several times how those veterans hadn’t received a welcome home, she said.

“When he passed, I wanted him to have all the honor and all the recognition that he was due in that time that he couldn’t have,” she said. “I wanted him to have it now as a last gift.”

Donations can be made to the Logan County Honor Guard, Post Office Box 91, Russellville, KY 42276.

For more information or to join the Logan County Honor Guard, McCormick can be contacted at (270) 421-3711.