For the members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1003 Honor Guard, providing final honors at the funerals of veterans is a means by which to express their gratitude for the service of their fallen comrades.
"I think that every veteran should have a military funeral," said Clarence Schneider, World War II veteran and the team's coordinator. "It's the last tribute that we can give them."
According to Schneider, the VFW post had a "mortuary team" established in the 1940s to provide such honors, but over the years and as a result of the passing of many of the team's members, it eventually dissolved.