My Grandfather's Funeral Research

846 Words2 Pages

I decided to do my field project on my grandfathers funeral. My grandfather was a Vietnam veteran and a marine for twenty years. My grandfather and my nana were married for a very long time. They have a full family and as you walk through their house, you see that they did a lot of fun things. MY grandfather was married before my nana to a woman from Vietnam. He often told us that he loved her deeply, but that she would not move to the United States back then. He met my nana a year later because he posted a news paper add looking for someone to watch his favorite television show. We always joked them and called in their modern day Tinder. When my mother called and told me my grandfather passed away, I feel as if everyone immediately fell …show more content…

In my life, I have met someone who was dishonorably discharged and that person ended up losing a lot of his benefits and the right to a military burial even though he served two tours in Iraq. The military is an institution riddled with rules, regulations and some left over sexism that they still haven't quite pushed past. In the funeral and burial of a military personel, it is unlikely to have a women Marine carry the casket with males. It is unusual for women to shoot the guns during the solute and I have never witnessed a women sergeant lead the flag folding. In my grandfathers case, there were two African American women who helped carry the casket to the burial plot, however only men were carrying it from the church service. I found this to be intriquing because obviously the women were strong enough to carry the casket once, they could have been in the position to do it twice. In our class readings we were introduced to the idea of being sociologically mindful. If we, as educated people want to be sociologically mindful, we have to question why a women is not allowed to carry the casket from the church, but a women is allowed to carry it when you're in a grave yard. Does this have something to do with religion or is this a military …show more content…

In my life, my mothers brother lives 16 hours away from my nana. My first cousins have only ever been to my nana and grandfathers house a few times. In order for my family to see my aunt and uncle, we fly to Tennessee once a year. This year we could not make it and invited them to make the trip to us, but they declined. As I sat there and saw him take that position, a position that quietly said “I can comfort you”, made me feel uncomfortable. My mother planned the funeral with my nana and has stayed with my nana for days at a time since his death, but was pushed out almost by my uncle when the actual ceremony was

More about My Grandfather's Funeral Research

Open Document