A USS Bataan honor guard prepares to commit a deceased Navy veteran to his final resting place during a burial at sea Monday in the Atlantic Ocean. Three sailors were laid to rest during the ceremony. (Tony Sisti/Courtesy of U.S. Navy)
Three Navy veterans were buried at sea Monday by sailors aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan, currently deployed in the Atlantic.
The ceremony included a short prayer and remarks from Chaplain (Cmdr.) Brenda Bradleydavila. A 21-gun salute from the ship’s ceremonial firing detail honored the veterans as their remains were committed to their final resting place.
The Navy receives about 500 to 600 requests a year for burial at sea, said Petty Officer 2nd Class Whit Sloane, burial-at-sea coordinator with the Navy’s office of mortuary affairs. Nearly all of the requests are granted.
"Most of the requests are from Navy retirees or veterans, but we get requests from all branches of the military," said Sloane, one of only 16 Navy morticians.
Requirements for the ceremony are very specific. For a casket burial, families must have the remains prepared by a funeral home and placed in a metal casket, with 150 pounds of weight added at the feet, to ensure it sinks feet-first into the ocean, Sloane said. While the Navy does not charge for a burial at sea, families are responsible for costs related to the preparation of the body and the expense of getting the remains to a Navy port for placement on a ship. The Navy ports in Norfolk, Va., and San Diego are the only two from which remains will be sent for burial at sea. Once the Navy identifies a "mission-ready vessel," the remains are sent to the ship.
Though family members are not allowed onboard for the burial, the Navy presents families with the flags used during such ceremonies, along with shells from the rounds fired during the salute. Families also receive navigational charts indicating the location of where the burial took place, said Chief Petty Officer Anthony Sisti, the Bataan’s public affairs officer.
All active-duty servicemembers as well as retirees and veterans who were honorably discharged are eligible for burial at sea. So are U.S. civilians from the Military Sealift Command, as well as dependents of active-duty servicemembers, retirees and veterans.
A USS Bataan honor guard prepares to commit a deceased Navy veteran to his final resting place during a burial at sea Monday in the Atlantic Ocean. Three sailors were laid to rest during the ceremony. (Tony Sisti/Courtesy of U.S. Navy)
Crewmembers from the USS Bataan pay their final respects to a deceased Navy veteran during a burial at sea. (Stephen Oleksiak/Courtesy of U.S. Navy)
Sailors render the 21-gun salute for a Navy veteran during a burial at sea. (Stephen Oleksiak/Courtesy of U.S. Navy)
