Lucas M. Lowe Memorial Service
I was contacted by Allison Funeral Home to play at the graveside for one of the pilots who went down in Galveston. The service was held on Wednesday January 11, 2017 at 1:00pm. The locaton for the memorial service was at North Main Baptist Church in Hardin followed by a graveside service at Guedry Cemetery.
I had to play Amazing Grace at the graveside. Because they did not know how long the service was going to take, I had to get out there early to be ready when they arrived.
As I was driving out to the graveside people had placed American flags down the side of the road leading to the cemetery. These flags were placed for about 2 miles down the road. I could see people setting up chairs un their driveway with little American flags waiting for the procession to arrive. This was a beautiful site to see.
When I arrived at the graveside there were many military people getting ready for the procession to arrive. I had to coordinate with the officials where and when I would play Amazing Grace.
It was determined I would play after the presentation of the flags and stop playing when I saw the Apache helicopters flying over.
The firing squad and the flag folders were practing and getting ready for the procession to arrive. They even had the Apaches do a practice flyover.
Here are some photos of the cemetery before they arrived:
I am hear getting instruction from the officer.
I was told from people waiting around that the funeral directors were going to wait until school let out so the children could see the procession.
It took a while for them to arrive because of the amount of people at the church. I was told there were over a thousand people and there was no room in the church.
The graveside service did not last that long.
The 21 gun salute, taps and the presentation of the flags followed.
After the 6th flag was presented to the family, I played 2 verses of Amazing Grace and stopped when I could see the Apaches fly over. This was a very moving time. The helicopters flew very low and slow. One of the helicopters flew off to the right as the other one went staright.
What a beautiful send off this was!
What an honor it was to see and be there.
Here is a short video of what I could film.
