On Memorial Day, many of us tried to recall the faces of those who are always forever young in our hearts. We try to make time to pay our respects to the legacy of unselfish loyalty and patriotism of Rhode Islanders now gone. Unfortunately, as the years pass us by, there are fewer and fewer individuals left in the state who are willing to carry that legacy into the future.

The Rhode Island Military Funeral Honors Detachment (RIMHD), have taken up the gauntlet and are both willing and able to give these brave veterans the honor and respect they so readily deserve. They perform a major role in honoring Rhode Island’s veterans.

The Honors Detachment is directed by CSM (Retired), Raymond Morris, Rhode Island Army National Guard. Morris participated in his first Military Honors Detail back in June of 1947. Since that time he has participated and presided over hundred military funerals.

Morris has not let his experience and dedication fall by the wayside. He not only instructs soldiers on the proper procedures for rendering Military Honors, but he also educates his soldiers by lecturing on American Military History. As a student of military history, he readily shares his knowledge of the past with his younger soldiers.

He emphasizes to the members of the detachment the reasons why they are rendering respect to deceased veterans on Memorial Day. “Today we recall voices that are forever still. But, through memory and recollection, we honor their lives and we begin to calculate the enormity of their sacrifice.”

He does not take these words or his duties lightly and he believes that his soldiers should not take them lightly as well.

On Memorial Day, the Funeral Honor’s Detachment team members honor the courage of those who have gone before them. And in doing so they may have also realize their own individual mortality. On Memorial Day, the members of the Honors Detachment paid homage to the sacrifices of all veterans past and present with a rifle salute and a reading by Morris, explaining how even a simple soldier can help to change the evil that permeates our world.

Memorial Day is a special day of remembrance for those who have passed on but for the members of the Honors Detachment every day is Memorial Day. These soldiers sacrifice their time in order to ensure that every deceased veteran receives the burial honors due them.

The Honors Detachment continues to honor the legacy of courage and heroism of those young Americans who, even today, go in harm's way. They help us remember and recall but also keep in mind that memory and recollections are not sufficient alone. They remind us that we should all try to dedicate ourselves to the great task of ensuring that those who have fallen will not be forgotten. This is a legacy that we are keeping alive not only for others but also for ourselves.

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