Memorial Ideas for a Veteran

Personalizing a memorial service for yourself or a loved one can bring forth many deep feelings: love, compassion, joy and pride. The latter is especially true when you’re planning a memorial for a veteran. Veterans deserve the special honors and traditions that often are a part of their funeral service.

How can you create a fitting memorial that provides your family with an understanding of the lifelong service that your veteran offered on their behalf? Here are a few suggestions from our staff.

Create a Memorial Guest Book

Guest books are a tradition for many funeral services, but a military fabric-covered book is a special remembrance. Especially for one who gave so much to their country. Guests are able to provide a written record of their thoughts and well-wishes to the family. The book itself captures the essence of service with authentic accents. These accents could be ribbons, trim or fabric from a service uniform.

Throw a Celebration of Life Ceremony

During a celebration of life ceremony, guests are often invited to contribute ideas or memories that can be woven into a tapestry. This could be either physical or digital, and comes together to show a life well-lived. This can be especially touching when the friends of service members are able to provide imagery from time spent during a deployment. These images may be new to the majority of family members, and provide added insight into the life and service of your loved one.

Have a Military Display

Whether or not your loved one is being buried with full military honors or TAPs, it’s perfectly appropriate to display their medals, uniforms, pictures and achievements for their time in service. This could take a variety of different formats. This includes a display table during visitation periods, the presentation of an American flag during the interment ceremony and more. You can even get creative and consider a large map with push pins denoting deployment locations. 

If you need more great ideas for celebrating a veteran who has passed, contact our compassionate and friendly staff at Mountain View Funeral Home and Cemetery. We will work closely with you to ensure that your requirements are fulfilled. We also want to make sure that your loved one has the special send off that they so richly deserve. You can reach us at 480-832-2850 or contact us online.