In this podcast, host Bruce Moody speaks with Deborah Skillman, director of Casualty, Mortuary Affairs and Military Funeral Honors for the Defense Department, about the 2022 International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association Convention in Las Vegas.
They discuss the critical role the event plays in the DOD’s outreach efforts to funeral directors, as well as in learning about the new and creative ways planners are memorializing deceased service members. Skillman also talks about the department’s mission to tailor funeral honors to the specific customs and traditions of the individual service branches.
Other topics include military funeral honors eligibility and what happens during a ceremony for active-duty service members who have died, as well as veterans. The discussion also includes the role of an Air Force honor guard while the Nellis Air Force Base Honors Team provides a demonstration of the folding and presentation of the U.S. flag, as they would during a military funeral honors ceremony. Additionally, Ms. Skillman fields questions from the Military OneSource booth at the convention.
The Defense Department provides about 260,000 funeral honors every year as part of its commitment to providing the most compassionate and professional services to surviving family members to honor their deceased service members.
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