U.S., Philippine officials work together to provide final resting place for Airman

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Bryan Bouchard
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  Several military and U.S. State Department organizations from the East Coast to the Far East came together recently to ensure the wishes of a deceased airman's family were honored.

Tech. Sgt. Raymond Natividad was stationed at Langley Air Force Base, Va., when he fell ill and was hospitalized in Suffolk, Va. The Airman's family flew to the U.S. from the Philippines to be with him during that dire time. Ultimately, he succumbed to his illness and passed away. The NCO's mother requested that her son be buried in their home country in the Philippines, and that her son receive full military honors.

Officials at Langley, Dover Air Force Base, Del., and Air Combat Command headquarters spent the next days trying to find the practicality and possibility to meet that request. Every servicemember is entitled to be buried at the location and in the manner they, or the person authorized disposition of the remains, chooses, according to Mr. Tim Nicholson, chief of the entitlements branch of the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Office at Dover. As chief of the entitlement's branch at AFMAO, Mr. Nicholson's job is to be an advocate for the families, to ensure those left behind are equipped and aware of all that is available to them.

"Initially it looked like it wasn't going to happen," Mr. Nicholson said. "There is not an assigned base to the Philippines for an honor guard to have full honors detail performed there. Regardless, we knew that if it [could] be done, we wanted it to be done with Air Force personnel."

Mr. Nicholson said that they initially reached out to Pacific Air Forces while simultaneously making contact with the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines.

"There were initially many concerns from a logistics perspective of getting an honor guard there from maybe Andersen, Kadena or Hickam," Mr. Nicholson said. Another concern was with regard to the "full honors" aspect; there must be a 21-gun salute to complete it. Current restrictions bringing weapons into the Philippines would make that difficult.

The challenges didn't end there. Getting to the Philippines took quick work and arrangements from other offices on Kadena to get airfare and orders completed, as well as figuring out how to get from the airport in Manila, south to Bacolad, located in the central part of the Philippine archipelago.

In addition, while Kadena's honor guard regularly practices various details, they don't get the opportunity to perform funeral details on Okinawa very often, as nearly all U.S. servicemembers who pass away here are transported back to the U.S. for final disposition.

"The honor guard team started conducting practice as soon as we were informed of the possibility that we would be performing the funeral detail," said Staff Sgt. Lacey Brown, Kadena Base Honor Guard. "Over the past few months we have performed a few memorials, receptions of remains, and even a funeral for a retired chief master sergeant. So although the overall team experience was limited the funeral was not a brand new concept."

While Kadena's honor guard willfully stepped up to perform the detail, it was up to the U.S. Embassy to help make sure the rest of the "full honors" piece could take place.

Enter Tech. Sgt. Brian Roberts. He's an airborne mission technician for the Defense Attaché Office in Manila. He and others there coordinated with several organizations from the Joint U.S. Military Assistance Group, Pacific Air Forces as well as the Kadena Honor Guard to make sure this funeral could happen. The Philippine military offered to provide a firing detail for Sergeant Natividad, eliminating the requirement for Kadena Airmen to bring their own weapons, and paving the way for them to head down to the islands and perform the detail.

"We are in the election season here and there is a gun ban," Sergeant Roberts explained. "This made it impossible for the honor guard team to bring in their weapons (for the 21-gun salute). Our biggest headache was figuring out how we were going to provide the firing party. Once we figured that out the rest seemed to fall into place."

Performing alongside their Philippine counterparts and the bugler, Marine Sgt. Aaron Wagners from the 3rd Marine Band, the Kadena Airmen were able to properly signify Sergeant Natividad's Air Force career in front of his family in their home country.

"The moment of passing the flag to the next of kin is always filled with empathy for the loved ones and for their loss, and this funeral was no different," Sergeant Brown said. "The difference was that along with the sorrow was gratitude for being able to be there for the family, and be a part of the team that accomplished this significant act.

"Performing a funeral is the highest privilege for an honor guard member;" she said, "it is the ultimate service to be able to honor a fallen comrade."

Being able to demonstrate Air Force excellence to a crowd of civilian Filipinos, many of whom may have never before seen US armed forces personnel, was one of the most rewarding parts of accomplishing this mission for Sergeant Roberts. But there were other rewards as well.

"It was impressive to see that our Air Force is still cultivating fine young Airmen to accomplish the mission however and whenever, no matter the circumstances," he said.

For Mr. Nicholson, while the process of arranging for a funeral in a foreign country isn't a new experience, it's definitely a rarity. Being able to arrange for a multi-national funeral detail was the icing on the cake.

Mr. Nicholson said of the Filipino soldiers firing the three volleys of seven rifles, "That last action completed the entitlement of full honors."