The History of the PAWV Honor Guard
Every great effort starts with one good idea.
This idea for the P.A.W.V. Honor Guard came from Ed Sztukowski, after he
attended a funeral of one of our members. Ed thought that we, as an
organization, could do more for our members when they pass away than just
stand honor at the wake and attend their funeral. He knew that to
make the idea a reality, he had to convince one person that this idea could
work. That person was our Commander, Albert “Butch” Rolek. Once
Ed convinced Butch, the next step was to convince the Board members and the
General Membership. Ed “recruited” John Czaicki, Ed Rakowski, Wayne
Baker, Andy Knopik, Henry Marganski, Henry Johnson, Chester Kopec, and Ed
Gula as the Charter Members of the Honor Guard Unit.
Once this Team was formed, the “Basic Re-Training” began.
The Honor Guard uniform was agreed upon and the Military weapons were ordered
and procured from the US Army. This took at least three years to obtain
the original 4 rifles. These “Seasoned Recruits” went through the
“Manual of Arms Refresher Course” provided by Wayne Baker and Henry Johnson.
This was not an easy task, remembering that these recruits had not performed
or trained since being discharged from the service. These were World
War II and Korean War Veterans; and that the Korean War ended in 1953, some
40 years earlier. Training began and after several sessions the team
was ready to perform the Military Funeral Honors Ceremony.
Once the team felt confident they were invited to perform
the Funeral Honors at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Saint Louis,
Missouri. Our Honor Guard became certified to perform the service in
November 1999, by the Missouri National Guard, Military Funeral Honor Group.
With this certification, the Honor Guard Team was then placed on the Jefferson
Barracks National Cemetery team list to help the National Guard perform
the Funeral Service.
It was decided that the team will be scheduled for Wednesdays
at the National Cemetery. The Military Funeral Honors Ceremony consists
of a Firing Party of at least 3 Members, the playing of Taps and the folding
and presentation of the US Flag to the next of kin. The team consists
of a Curb Commander, Squad Leader and Riflemen.
The Curb Commander is the liaison between the Veterans
Administration Representative, the National Guard Active Duty component,
the Funeral Director and the Honor Guard Team. The Squad Leader is
in charge of the Firing Party. He decides on the Uniform of the Day,
the calling of Commands and the Position of the Firing Party. The Riflemen
are required to follow commands and ensure the 3 round volley is as “Crisp”
as if only one round is fired. Because of its performance, the team
was being utilized on a regular basis and more members were needed.
The recruiting started again. Joe Evanoff, Joe Iwasyszyn, Bernie Schubert,
John Cygan, Brian Reaka, Gene Lawrence and Ed Brzezinski, were the next
to be called to duty. After their training the basic ceremony was
“tweaked” from verbal commands to hand signals. Wayne Baker and Ed
Sztukowski together brought up the idea of using Hand Signals, because all
of the members were getting older and hard of hearing. With the white
glove, all members could see the hand movement and the voice command eliminated.
This is still in use today.
With the added “Troops” the Honor Guard now added to
their program. They provide a “Color Guard” for civic ceremonies, and
local parades. With their distinctive “Red Blazers” and the M-1 Garand
Rifle and outstanding reliability and performance, the Honor Guard team has
earned the respect and admiration of the Veterans Administration, the Missouri
National Guards’ Military Funeral Honors Group, and several area Funeral Home
Directors. They have been requested, by name, to perform the Funeral
Honors at several area cemeteries.
Since the Honor Guards’ inception the P.A.W.V. Honor
Guard has added a second team. Team #1 consisted of; Ed Sztukowski,
Curb Commander, Ed Brzezinski, Alternate Curb Commander, Wayne Baker, Squad
Leader, Chester Kopec, Alternate Squad Leader, Henry Marganski, Joe
Evanoff, John Krakowiecki, Jr., Ed Wondolowski, Jr., and Bob Burlew, Jr.,
Riflemen. Team #2 consisted of John Czaicki, Curb Commander, Gene Lawrence,
Alternate Curb Commander, Ed Rakowski, Squad Leader, Andy Knopik, Alternate
Squad Leader, Bob White, John Cygan, Bernie Schubert, Daniel Paszkiewicz,
Kenny Martka and the newest Honor Guard Member, Charles Jurkowski, Riflemen.
These 19 Members have dedicated themselves and their time to the Honor Guard
and it’s extremely rare that when these guys are called upon to perform a
funeral ceremony, they decline to accept the assignment.
Ed Sztukowski is constantly thanking these dedicated
members for their time and effort in supporting the Honor Guard. Ed
also requested the team get more active in Illinois and with the approval
of the Honor Guard Members, informed local Funeral Home Directors of the Service
that we provide for any deceased Veteran. With the War in Iraq, and
the activation of the National Guard, our Honor Guard is being used more often.
This year as of June 2006 the teams have provided close to 2000 funeral honors
in Missouri and Illinois. With the added number of requests for this
service an additional 4 M-1s were requested and on order for a total of 12
rifles assigned to the PAWV.
We as an organization thank the dedication of these
Members for their devotion to the program.
