The American Flag being folded and presented to family members, the perfectly aligned rifles and the sound of taps. All powerful moments that make up the ceremony to pay final respects to those who served in the U.S. military. 

The nonprofit, All Veterans Honor Guard, is made up of five teams that provide final honors at Fort Logan National Cemetery. Since forming in 1994, they have provided final honors for over 20,000 Veterans. 

When the organization first started, it was made of six teams. In their first year of providing this service, they attended nearly 63 funerals. 

Kathy Kraski, an Air Force Veteran and All Veterans Honor Guard volunteer, got involved with the organization nearly 20 years ago.

“Just about every year since then, the number [of funerals] has increased,” said Kraski. “But the number of volunteers hasn’t.”

In 2015, the number of teams dropped to five - Castle Rock, Littleton, Aurora, Arvada and Fort Logan - and in 2021, the teams attended over 1,500 funerals. 

Kraski said the honor guard now has less than 80 volunteers. 

She has been going to multiple Veteran events attempting to recruit volunteers, but Kraski said it’s not as easy as it seems.

By law, one must be a military Veteran to participate in final honors. 

According to the United States Department of Defense, it is by law that an honor guard detail for eligible Veterans consists of at least two members of the U.S. Military. Additionally, one of the members must have served in the same service branch as the deceased Veteran. 

“The worst part is, if we go under, there’s nobody to replace us,” said Kraski. “And I don’t ever want to have to tell you or somebody you know that we can’t provide honors.” 

The All Veterans Honor Guard does joint services with the military, which folds the flag to be handed to a fallen service member’s family member. The honor guard provides the commander who conducts the service and talks about the deceased and his or her service to the county, as well as the relationship to the flag. 

The service also includes a chaplain to conduct a prayer, a bugler to play taps and a rifle detail with weapons from World War II. 

As the honor guard continues to provide the service to hundreds of families, Kraski said the organization is in dire need of volunteers. 

The organization provides the training and the uniforms for the service but they are running into a few problems, including that most funerals take place on weekdays. 

“That eliminates the young Veterans for the most part because they’re working and they have families,” said Kraski. 

Kraski also said the organization will take disabled Veterans as volunteers, however, a lot of them suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder related to combat and the firing of the weapons would trigger the Veterans. 

Although volunteers don’t receive monetary compensation for their time, Kraski said it’s an honor being able to provide final military honors for the deceased and their families. 

“We’re not even asking for a day a week,” said Kraski. “If we can get a couple of days a month, it would help us.” 

To volunteer or make a donation to the organization can be found done through their website, https://www.allveteranshonorguard.org/.