Honoring his service

Editor's Note: Encampment VFW members Jason and D'Ron Campbell recently took their sons, Douglass and Anthony, to the funeral of Corporal Remigo "Ray" Barela in Casper. Barela, who passed away at the age of 101, believed he had no family at the time of his death. The Saratoga Sun afforded Douglass and Anthony the opportunity to reflect on the experience.

On Tuesday, February 28, my little brother and I went to the funeral for Cpl. Remigo "Ray" Barela. He was a WWII Marine Corps Veteran who served from 1942-1946. He had no known family but he would always tell his friends that he had "outlived everybody". When the Patriot Guard found out that he had no family, they put a call out for people to come and honor him for his service. To get to the funeral, we left early so that we could try to get into the building where they were holding the service. We wanted to watch the entire ceremony.

The funeral ceremony was held in the Oregon Trail Veterans Cemetery in Evansville. The Wyoming Patriot Guard was holding flags up at the entrances of the building. In the building there were probably close to 250 people. After a priest spoke of how we should honor him not for his patriotism but for his love of his country, the sheriff spoke of why we should honor him for his service. A VFW representative then spoke of how he was in life leading up to his death. Then the Fire Departments' bagpipe band played Amazing Grace, which was very beautifully done. After that, the Marine Corp soldiers unfolded and displayed an American flag for the 21-gun salute and a Navy bugler played Taps. Before they did the 21-gun salute, they asked that anyone in the building who had ever worn a uniform for the U.S. to stand at attention and salute the flag. After that we were dismissed from the building and, as we left, there were easily over 700 people standing outside. There were also cars parked on both sides of the road from the building down the hill for about a mile. Overall it was a really amazing experience to see a Marine funeral and, although it was a sad occasion, it was really cool to see.