Acadiana Veterans Honor Guard ensures veterans, families receive respect (2024)

Ensuring Acadiana retired military and military veterans receive the respect they deserve is the mission of the Acadiana Veterans Honor Guard.

The volunteer group has presented at nearly 1,500 events in the past 10 years, offering full military funeral honors, pinning ceremonies to veterans in hospice care and color guard presentations.

"These guys and gals served their country and they served it well — and they deserve to be honored at their death," said Barry Dufour, anadjutant and the membership chair for the organization.

The Acadiana Veterans Honor Guard started in 2014 after a group of veterans realized that some veterans weren't receiving military honors at their funerals. Local military organizations' honor guards were being disbanded because of members' age and military branches weren't always able to send active members because of time or money constraints.

Military funeral honors include theplaying of taps, a bugle call played at funerals, wreath layings and memorial services, the presentation of a U.S. flag, and a detail of uniformed military personnel. It sometimes includes a three-rifle volley salute.

The Acadiana Veterans Honor Guard has a bus that allows the group to travel to various events, usually within a 45-mile radius of Lafayette, Dufour said. It also has enough rifles for two complete squads. It trains volunteers and provides uniforms.

"We are a group of volunteers, all service men and women, who decided to give back to our veterans because one day we'll be there," said Dufour, who served nearly eight years in the U.S. Air Force.

There are other volunteer honor guards around the state, including the Northshore Honor Guard and the Alexandria-Pineville Veterans Honor Guard, and some American Legion Posts.

Working with the Acadiana Veterans Honor Guard is one of the reasons Hospice of Acadiana is able to be acknowledged as having a five-star "We Honor Veterans" program, saidAngela Morrison, the senior director of engagement at Hospice of Acadiana.

"Having the Acadiana Veterans Honor Guard with us is such a valuable piece," she said.

The honor guard assists in a pinning ceremony where veterans in hospice or palliative care are presented with articles of appreciation, including a pin from the branch they served in, a personalized patriotic pillowcase and a certificate of appreciation signed by their state representative. The veteran's spouse also receives a crocheted blanket.

The ceremonies, which are provided wherever a person is receiving care, are emotional as family members, friends, the community and hospice team appreciate the veteran, Morrison said.

"To be able to witness that pinning that says to them, 'Thank you for your service. We know you are at the end of life. We want to recognize and honor you,' is so significant and says that the community cares about them," she said.

One of the most moving moments for Dufour is when the flag is presented to a family at the graveside. The flag that was draped over the casket is folded while taps is played.

Presenting the flag to his late brother's wife and late brother-in-law's wife were the hardest of those moments for Dufour.

The Acadiana Veterans Honor Guard is often contacted by local funeral homes to provide funeral honors. Sometimes a branch will send active members to perform those services. In that case, the Acadiana veterans will support them. If a branch is unable to send members, the Acadiana veterans step in to offer what families request.

The service comes at no cost to families. The group is hosting a golf tournament on Nov. 15 at Les Vieux Chenes Golf Course to raise funds for transportation and other costs to continue to serve families in the area.

Dufour hopes the opportunity to respect veterans and their families will encourage other retired military and honorably discharged veterans of all ages and branches to join the Acadiana Veterans Honor Guard. Volunteers need to be able to stand at salute for 10 minutes and carry the rifle, which weighs about 9 pounds.

"The mission of the AVHG is to make sure local veterans get the honors they deserve," Dufour said. "And we're looking for volunteers to join us."

To learn more about the Acadiana Veterans Honor Guard, visitwww.avhonorguard.com.