The rumble of the escort bikes got
louder and louder, and then there were here.
They moved quickly to dismount and to
find some stars and some stripes.
And then they moved in to fill the
lines that had been established by the advance party.
At last we were all in place,
including the
It’s not a bad thing, but there was one
small group present that didn’t care about Frederik.
The ceremony was carried-out. The slow, deliberate movements of the
military ritual are compelling, especially when witnessed for the first
time. Then it was over and the Marines
marched out.
There was nothing more to say or do –
they did what they could for their fallen comrade and now they must return to
the war.
Then I noticed something only a
photographer’s roving eye would catch.
One of our guys was on the ground.
Yvette and others were spontaneously forming between him and the
mourners.
Like a free kick in soccer when a wall
of defenders forms ten yards from the ball, the flags that we sometimes use to
block the view of television cameras were used to block the view of the other
guests.
We are guests too, but like the rifle
detail, we think of ourselves as servants first and mourners second. “It’s not about us.” If the funeral service were disrupted by our
presence, we would have failed in our mission.
Except for a very few people, we
managed to avoid notice. When other
guests read this page, days or week later, they will understand that Frederik
was the only thing on our minds, too.
The other guests were focused on the
helium balloons that hovered over their midst.
Like white doves, they flew up into the
sky.
Borrowing from Prince Hamlet in Act 3,
Frederik has shuffled off this mortal coil.
Our injured teammate was helped off the
playing field.
The GSD, the LtCol and Melose Park
Police Sergeant Mark Rieger paused before my camera.
And then we were on our way.
We didn’t know you in life, Frederik.
But in death, we wanted those who loved
you to know we loved you too.
Good night Chesty, wherever you are.
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