Support the Marion County
Memorial Honor Guard
The Marion County Memorial Honor Guard promotes Americanism, dignity, and respect for our country’s warriors by upholding the utmost professionalism and integrity through its conduct and image at all times.
As a war veterans’ organization, we proudly provide ceremonial funeral honors and assistance to all military veterans and their families during their time of need and provide any and all patriotic services when requested. With the responsibility bestowed upon us, we will never forget that it is the Veteran who commands the dignity we protect.
We are currently averaging almost 4 memorial services a week. We have never charged a penny for our Memorial Honor Guard Services. Our Board of Directors, Officers and all of the members of our Memorial Honor Guard are 100% volunteers who freely give their time, support and ceremony efforts.
The Marion County Memorial Honor Guard was formed in 2001 by PFC Arthur Nave, U.S. Army, in the aftermath of 9/11, seeing the high need for support of funeral Honors for Veterans who had died. During those early days, the Guard was performing as many as eight funerals a day. In the days since the unit was formed in 2001, the leadership of GySgt Ed Harrison, USMC, then 1st LT Pete Peno, U.S. Army and MSgt Sharon Cooley, USAF retired as Captain of the Guard helped to sustain and transition the unit to its current status. Our current Captain of the Guard is ATCS(AW) Donald S. Kennedy, U.S. Navy, Retired.
A normal active-duty military honor guard folds, presents the flag, and plays taps. The Marion County Memorial Honor Guard was developed with a much more comprehensive and personal approach to the Honors ceremony. The Chaplain directly interacts with and provides comfort to the Veteran’s family. We always try to provide a Rifle Salute, a Bugler, Fold/Present the flag, perform a Final Salute, and present mementos of the service. The service more clearly reflects the camaraderie of fellow service members and the honors that the departed veteran deserves.
During the COVID epidemic in 2020, the National Cemeteries were closed for a while to avoid assembling in groups. This created a temporary backlog of services to be provided later. Currently, we are averaging over 16 services per month. Most of these are veterans from Vietnam, Afghanistan, and the Gulf Wars.
Although most of the services we perform are at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, we have provided services at several commercial/private cemeteries, local churches, Veterans Halls, HOA facilities, and even in private homes.