Honor Guard responds to vehicle accident near Cushing

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VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Seven members of the Silver Talon Honor Guard at Vance Air Force Base were first on the scene after a driver rolled his pickup truck Dec. 12 near a cemetery where they were scheduled for a funeral detail.

About 10 minutes before the funeral procession for retired Master Sgt. William Comfort arrived at the cemetery, two miles outside Cushing, Okla., members of the detail heard tires screeching and the sound of a crash coming from the road adjacent to the cemetery.

"We saw smoke and dust and all ran toward the accident," Senior Airman Josh Becerra. They found a pickup truck resting on its roof in the road. "I was the first to the scene and found the driver with his head and right shoulder pinned between the door and the frame of the truck."

Despite being dressed in a full-ceremonial uniform, Becerra knelt by the vehicle and talked with the driver, keeping him calm until the emergency responders arrived about 20 minutes later.

When the funeral procession arrived, three team members returned to the cemetery to perform honors for the deceased. Senior Airman Bill Logel, Airman 1st Class Anthony Marple and Senior Airman Eric Ruiz-Garcia performed a modified grave-side service.

"We apologized to the funeral director for the missing team members and he was very understanding," said Marple. "We folded the flag, presented it to the family, performed a modified rifle salute and played taps with the bugle."

While the funeral service was taking place, the rest of the team assisted the emergency responders.

One of the law enforcement officers on scene said there may have been a weapon in the truck, said Staff Sgt. Megan Lunderman. "Some of us were looking through the debris field and I spotted it in the ditch."

Airman 1st Class Clarence Kalik-Underwood flagged down the Oklahoma Highway Patrol car responding to the initial 911 call and then joined Senior Airman Beau Brouillette and the other Honor Guard members in directing traffic and securing the scene.

The driver had to be removed from the truck with the Jaws of Life, a hydraulic tool used to pry wreckage apart, said Becerra.