Thank you, Pop, and all other Veterans!
Below you will find the writeup from the local paper in 2006 when my grandfather, Maynard Abel died due to cancer and complications from agent orange in the Vietnam war. Outside of my mother, he was my best friend in the family. I am so proud of him. I have his shadow box full of medals in my living room on the wall. I spent every Veteran’s day with him until I went to college, then I called him every Vets day and listened to war stories over the phone. That all ended in 2005, but his legacy lives on.
The Shelbyville News
Posted 1/12/2006 8:52:00 AM
By BETTINA PUCKETT
LONDON, Indiana - A U.S. Air Force veteran from Shelbyville who served his country for 28 years and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross was laid to rest in London Cemetery with full military honors presented by a special contingent from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Retired Chief Master Sgt. Maynard L. Abel, 63, who died Sunday, served 28 years in the U.S. Air Force, and traveled around the world at least seven times, family members said.
On Wednesday afternoon, Abel’s family members and friends gathered at London Cemetery in northwestern Shelby County following a 1:30 p.m. service at Carmony-Ewing Harrison Street Chapel, 819 S. Harrison St.
As they stood together in the chilly air around an outdoor tent, his military funeral was performed with utmost precision.
A 10-member honor guard from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, had traveled 2-1/2 hours to Shelby County to carry out its solemn task.
After the Rev. Robb Barlow of Mount Pisgah Baptist Church read the eulogy, seven of the airmen performed a 21-gun salute comprised of three simultaneous volleys shot into the damp air.
Senior Airman Kristica Skelly, who stood 50 paces from the casket, played on her bugle a slow, stirring rendition of “Taps” to signal the end of the duty day for Abel.
After six of the airmen carefully folded the American flag draped over Abel’s coffin, Master Sgt. Dwayne Gamron, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the detail, knelt on one knee and reverently presented the flag to Abel’s widow, Linda Lou Coyle Abel. “On behalf of the president of the United States and a grateful nation, our country’s flag is presented as a token of appreciation for many years of faithful and honorable service,” said Gamron, a 23-year veteran.
Following the ceremony, the group headed back to Ohio. In a brief interview, Tech. Sgt. Debra Adams said she loves being a member of the honor guard. Adams and two other members of the detail are reservists who volunteered to go on active duty to serve on the team.
“What we do is a very humbling experience,” said Adams, a 14-year veteran. “I’m honored to do this because, without the services of their loved ones, none of us could do what we do.”
The honor guard members are sometimes called “ambassadors in blue.” The Wright-Patterson team performs military funerals in six states including Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and West Virginia. “We are often the last memory of their loved ones,” Adams said.
With the passing of the National Defense Authorization Act in 2000, the military was required to provide at least basic funeral honors for all eligible veterans. Adams said a 10-member team is sent for any retiree who served at least 20 years. A 20-member team may be sent to perform the funeral for an airman who died on active duty, and a two-member team is dispatched for a veteran who served less than 20 years.
The Wright-Patterson Honor Guard includes at least 35 members at any one time, Adams said.
Abel grew up in Shelby County and was a 1961 graduate of Morristown High School. As a flight engineer in the Air Force, he flew 158 missions in Vietnam, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross, five air medals and the Meritorious Service Award.
President Calvin Coolidge presented the first Distinguished Flying Cross to Capt. Charles Lindbergh of the U.S. Army Corps Reserve for his solo flight of 3,600 miles across the Atlantic in 1927.
The medal is presented to any officer or enlisted man who distinguishes himself in actual combat in support of operations by heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight, subsequent to Nov. 11, 1918, said a Web site established by The Distinguished Flying Cross Society.
Abel earned the prestigious medal on Sept. 21, 1969, while a member of the 360th Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron in Vietnam. “On that date, Sergeant Abel flew an extremely hazardous mission through adverse weather conditions and through the constant threat of hostile ground fire and attack,” his award citation read. “In spite of this, he superbly accomplished this highly intricate and hazardous mission in support of free world forces combating aggression.”
He retired from the Air Force in November of 1988.
