Honor Guard work is honor for participants

MOSES LAKE - At an Air Force veteran's funeral, or the funeral of air personnel on active duty, the Honor Guard can attend, if the family wishes, to present an American flag.

And according to airmen on the Honor Guard that serve at Fairchild Air Force Base, it really is an honor.

"This is a very great job, I have to say," said Senior Airman Kirk Fredrick. The guys in the Honor Guard become the face of the Air Force for military families, he said, and it gives the Honor Guard a unique opportunity, said Airman 1st Class Jahrod Cyrus. "You're getting to say your thank-yous to the families," Cyrus said.

"Very humbling experience," Fredrick said.

The funeral itself can be stressful, said Airman 1st Class Michael Bauch. "But what it means to the families" really makes the job worth it, Bauch said.

"It's an honor," Bauch said.

"It really is," said Airman 1st Class Kenichi Allan. It's important to make the experience count for the families, he said.

The Honor Guard are the military representatives families see in some of the toughest moments of their lives, Fredrick said. It's important to be strong for them, and make sure they know the Honor Guard has their backs, Cyrus said.

"One of a kind type of experience," Cyrus said. "It really brings it home."

Honor Guard is a volunteer position; participants receive two weeks of training and serve in the guard for four months. When they're not in the Honor Guard Fredrick and Bauch supervise maintenance crews, Allan is part of a crew maintaining engines and Cyrus works in the personnel department.

The Honor Guard also has other duties, including presenting the flag at schools. The four airmen were in Moses Lake to participate in the Veteran's Day assemblies at Moses Lake High School Thursday.

The Honor Guard from Fairchild presents the flag at funerals throughout eastern Washington, northern Idaho and northern Oregon.

That's provided a learning curve in itself, for a guy from Brooklyn (Fredrick), one from Buffalo (Bauch), one from Orlando (Cyrus) and one from San Jose (Allan).

"I'm used to palm trees," Cyrus said. The coming winter will be his first in Spokane, he said.

It snows in Brooklyn, of course, but snow is different in eastern Washington, Fredrick said. His grandma's house came through Hurricane Sandy just fine, he said.

It's somewhere to go home to on leave, he said.