NORFOLK, Va. — In honor of Memorial day, News 3 is highlight the Navy funeral honor guard team at Naval Station Norfolk.
“You see anywhere from, I would say, eight [to] nine sailors," said Mona Gunn, describing the honor guard at a funeral.
Gunn knows all too well the experience of a funeral with the Navy funeral honor guard.
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“They’re there to escort the remains," Gunn explained. “Of course for family it’s one of the toughest places to be, at that gravesite.”
Gunn's son, Cherone, was killed in the USS Cole attack in 2000. The ship was, and as of 2026 still was, home-ported in Norfolk.
“It’s just the solemn occasion," Gunn said about seeing the honor guard at the funeral. "But, it means a lot because it’s the last act of honor."
News 3 first talked with her and her family a few days after the attack. At the time, she pictured her son in the mess hall on the ship.
“I knew he was there, probably, eating, joking. Being a happy person," Gunn told News 3 in 2000.
For members of the honor guard, the solemn job is one they are proud to take on.
Watch: News 3 interviews Gunn family days after USS Cole attack
“When they asked me if I wanted to do it I was honored to be honest," said BM2 Matthew Mudderman.
For the funeral honor guard team members, being part of the team is not only an honor but something that helps them as well.
“It gives me comfort knowing that if the training we do here continues on that the professionalism that will be delivered to my family when I go," Mudderman said.
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“It gives me a lot of clarity as well, because what we speak, for the honorable and faithful service, that means a lot to a lot of people," YNSN Tashya Campbel said.
The team covers nearly two dozen states, going to around 20,000 funerals a year.
“You never really get immune to grieving families," said Navy Casualty and Funeral Honors Team Program Manager ray Cunnikin.
Cunnikin showed News 3 some of the many letters of thanks the team has received.
“They make sure that whenever they’re out in the field that the family feels as though the Navy and the military service of their fallen service member mattered," Cunnikin said.
“Seeing them, and knowing he was in the Navy and they were there to honor him says a lot but it doesn’t erase that pain," said Gunn.
The honor guard can be requested for service members who died while active duty or veterans as long as they were not dishonorably discharged. For more information, or to submit a request, click here.
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