Rain, Rainbows and a Funeral

Yesterday was our first real rain. It came late in the afternoon and it came hard. My poor little tin-roofed shack amplified the rain until it was thunderous inside. I snuck out to take a few pictures. The rain was so heavy that it even showed up in the pics.



While the rain was coming down we received announcement of a "fallen comrades" ceremony. A couple of soldiers had been killed recently and they were about to be escorted onto an airplane to be flown home.

About this time the sun came out and we had a rainbow. I took a picture then walked down to the main road, a mile long thoroughfare that goes through the center of the base.



Slowly more and more soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines lined the street until all you could see were uniforms both directions up and down the street. It was an awesome sight and I feel emotional and moved remembering it. I would have loved to take a picture but photography is forbidden during these ceremonies out of reverence and concern for the family. The troops were framed by the trees that also line the road.

After a few minutes a procession of military vehicles slowly crept down the road. The caskets were laid, covered in a large American flag, in the back of a military truck. An honor guard of 8 airmen sat emotionless and still on either side of the coffin. Even their eyes were fixed ahead as they drove slowly past thousands of soldiers who lined the streets as they passed.

As the lead vehicle carrying the first casket approached, each of us in succession would come to attention and then slowly raise our hand in a carefully executed salute. As they passed each of us would slowly return our salute and the procession drove on to the airplane that was to take the soldiers home.