Scene from the folding of the flag at the funeral Wednesday of unaccompanied Veteran, James H. Griffin, at the Santa Fe National Cemetery. Photo by Jenn Bartram/ladailypost.com
American Legion District 1 Commander Dave Pineda receives the American flag at the funeral Wednesday of unaccompanied Veteran, James H. Griffin, at the Santa Fe National Cemetery. Photo by Jenn Bartram/ladailypost.com
By CAROL A. CLARK
Los Alamos Daily Post
caclark@ladailypost.com
Some 300 people attended a burial with military honors held Wednesday for an unaccompanied Veteran, James H. Griffin, who passed away alone Sept. 9, 2019 in his Los Alamos home.
Griffin, born April 7, 1932 was escorted from Rivera Family Funeral Home of Española at noon Wednesday and taken to the Santa Fe National Cemetery. He did not have any known living next-of-kin.
Jim Martinez, manager of Rivera Family Funeral Home of Los Alamos and Española delivered eulogy, telling the crowd that he had the privilege of serving as Griffin’s funeral director while he was in their care.
“Thank you all for coming to this beautiful Santa Fe National Cemetery, where over 60,000 of our honorable and esteemed Veterans and their spouses are laid to rest on these sacred 80 acres of land,” Martinez said. “For some of you, this event is personal. While Mr. Griffin had no known living family, he did have friends, and for those friends who have attended today, I’d like to offer my deepest condolences to you.”
He said that losing a friend brings grief, and everyone moves through grief uniquely and at their own pace. Whatever anyone was feeling was okay, he said, adding that friends should care of themselves, reach out to others for connection and support, and remember the good times they had with Griffin.
These habits will, over time, honor his memory and your friendships, and bring you peace and healing, Martinez said.
“For others who are here, this event is symbolic. You may not have known Mr. Griffin, but you knew he was a Veteran, and you did not want his service to our country to go unacknowledged,” he said. “Your attendance today is a gesture of recognition for all of our noble American soldiers who serve dutifully in our armed forces. It’s a gesture of appreciation for those servicemen and women who bravely protect, defend and uphold America’s principles of democracy. It’s a gesture of reverence for the GI who offers his or her livelihood, and sometimes his or her life, to stand guard at the door of America’s freedom.
No Veteran should ever be left behind, and no Veteran should be buried alone.”
Martinez reminded the crowd that Abraham Lincoln said, “Honor to the soldier and sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country’s cause. Honor, also, to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field and serves, as he best can, the same cause.”
“You are the citizens who care for your military brothers and sisters, and by being here today, you are serving their same cause,” Martinez said.
James Griffin worked for the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the 1980s and 1990s, notably in the Space Recharge Program, the Computing Division, and Groups C-3, C-6, C-9, C-10 and Eng-7, after having graduated with a degree in Mathematics in 1965 from the University of California in Berkeley.
For some time prior to his employment at LANL, he worked as a switchman for the Southern Pacific Railroad in the San Francisco Bay area. And before all of this, James H. Griffin served in the US Army during the Korean War in the early 1950s.
As a tribute to Griffin’s US Army service, Martinez read the Soldier’s Creed aloud, which is the doctrine all US Army enlisted personnel are expected to live and serve by:
I am an American Soldier.
I am a Warrior and a member of a team.
I serve the people of the United States, and live the Army Values.
I will always place the mission first.
I will never accept defeat.
I will never quit.
I will never leave a fallen comrade.
I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills.
I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.
I am an expert and I am a professional.
I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy the enemies of the United States of America, in close combat.
I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.
I am an American Soldier.
In concluding his eulogy, Martinez said, “Together, we thank James Griffin for his service, as we thank all the brave men and women who have served our country as soldiers, home and abroad, at war and at peace. God Bless our Veterans. May you rest together in peace.”
Martinez thanked Executive Director Bernadette Lauritzen and the Los Alamos Retired and Senior Organization, who provided transportation and companionship serves to Griffin during his later years.
He also thanked the New Mexico State Police, Los Alamos Police Department, Española Police Department, Rio Arriba Sheriff’s Department, Española Fire Department, US Army Honor Guard, VFW Post 8874 of Los Alamos, American Legion Post 90 of Los Alamos, Española American Legion Post 17, Legion Riders (from the North, South, East and West) Disabled American Veterans, Bugles Across America for performing a beautiful rendition of Taps, for the flowers, love and prayers sent, to Starbucks for donating coffee, to our media outlets of KKOB radio station in Albuquerque, the Los Alamos Daily Post, the Los Alamos Monitor, Jenn Bartram of Final Wishes Known, Betty Ehart Senior Center, Los Alamos Fire Department, Los Alamos High School NJROTC Cadets and to the staff and grounds keepers of Santa Fe National Cemetery.
“And to the communities and individuals of Los Alamos, Española and Santa Fe and wherever you come from, thank you!” Martinez said. “Thank you for being here. Your presence makes this a special event wherein we can all understand the power of belonging and the gratitude for our country and those who serve it.”
Scene from the burial with military honors held Wednesday for an unaccompanied Veteran, James H. Griffin, at the Santa Fe National Cemetery. Photo by Jenn Bartram/ladailypost.com
Scene from the burial with military honors held Wednesday for an unaccompanied Veteran, James H. Griffin, at the Santa Fe National Cemetery. Photo by Jenn Bartram/ladailypost.com
Scene of Taps performed at the burial with military honors held Wednesday for an unaccompanied Veteran, James H. Griffin, at the Santa Fe National Cemetery. Photo by Jenn Bartram/ladailypost.com
Members of the Black Beret of Albuquerque, Combat Veterans Association Of Albuquerque and Guardians of Children of the Rio Grande gather to honor an unaccompanied Veteran, James H. Griffin, at the Santa Fe National Cemetery. Photo by Jenn Bartram/ladailypost.com
Scene at the entrance to the Santa Fe National Cemetery for the burial with military honors held Wednesday for an unaccompanied Veteran, James H. Griffin. Photo by Jenn Bartram/ladailypost.com
The crowd gathered Wednesday to honor an unaccompanied Veteran, James H. Griffin, at Santa Fe National Cemetery. Photo by Jenn Bartram/ladailypost.com