Final tribute

■ When veterans are laid to rest, honor guards bid farewell with a last salute.

National cemeteries are set aside as the final resting place for an exclusive population -- those who have served in the military. It's a special place of honor for those who were willing to serve. On Memorial Day, national cemeteries throughout the nation will no doubt be the site of many ceremonies to remind us of those who have served. There are three national cemeteries in both Missouri and Kansas. The Missouri cemeteries are located in Jefferson City, St. Louis and Springfield. The Kansas cemeteries are located in Leavenworth and Fort Scott. Leavenworth has two cemeteries.

Leavenworth National Cemetery began as part of the Western Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers which, with 10 other facilities, served as a precursor for the Veterans Administration Medical Centers.

The Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery is located near the center of the Fort Leavenworth Military Reservation, one of the oldest continuously-active military posts located west of the Mississippi River.

The Fort Scott National Cemetery is located on the eastern outskirts of Fort Scott.

The Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery located south of St. Louis was, at one time, the largest military establishment in the United States. The Jefferson City National Cemetery was created to provide for the burial of the area's war dead during the Civil War but it was not dedicated until after the war ended. Springfield National Cemetery was established in 1867 when the city of Springfield purchased five acres for a burial plot for many of the men who died at the Battle of Wilson's Creek.

Along with a place of honor in these cemeteries, veterans are often honored at interment with another special tribute also reserved for those who have served -- often in the form of a lone bugler playing "Taps," or a rifle salute along with a flag presentation, or both. Veterans' groups often have honor guard units that perform this service, and the Missouri National Guard Military Funeral Honors Program has 13 teams that participate in veterans' funerals.

The program has been in place since 1999, and its members of the program participated in more than 9,000 funerals last year, according to retired Col. Wayne Medley, director of the Missouri National Guard's Funeral Honors Program.

"It depends on what the family wants and what we have available," Medley said. "We normally have a team leader and two team members. That's to fold the flag and present it to the family. When we do full military honors with the volleys and all we have five members."

Until recently there was a team in Nevada but Medley said the team travelled long distances most of the time and teams based elsewhere could attend those funerals with less travel.

"We had one in Nevada for a couple of years but a lot of the time they would travel quite a bit," Medley said. "We have a limited budget and it just made sense to make the change."

Families of veterans who die can simply ask the funeral director to contact the program.

"The funeral directors call us and we'll arrange things," Medley said. "We work together to give the family what they need. That's the way we've set it up in the state of Missouri. The funeral directors know the families, they know the area and they're in constant contact with the family in case there are changes."