Former U.S. Marines from the Greeley area, dressed in black pants, white shirts, and a red garrison cap, form a row of honor guard members in a veterans service organization known as the Union Colony Marines Detachment 1093. They prepare a rifle salute for an honorably discharged veteran prior to burial at Fort Logan National Cemetery, the resting place of more than 160,000 veterans and eligible family members.
Rows of graves are reflected through a window onto Union Colony Marines Detachment 1093 Honor Guard member Clem Schuette as he solemnly waits for the arrival of a burial party for a passed veteran whose burial service he will officiate, at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver on Friday, May 15, 2026.
Former U.S. Marines from the Greeley area call out ‘rolling’ as they line up along a street for a burial service at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver. In a row of six, seven or eight, the men are dressed in black pants, white shirts and a red, rectangular hat known as a garrison cap.
They are honor guard members in a veterans service organization known as the Union Colony Marines Detachment 1093, preparing a rifle salute for an honorably discharged veteran prior to burial at Fort Logan, the resting place of more than 160,000 veterans and eligible family members. Saying ‘rolling’ — a reference to the approaching vehicles — is their cue to get ready for the burial service, which is one of many the honor guard will participate in throughout the day.
There is no noise in the cemetery. Not a sound as the vehicles carry family, friends and the remains of the veteran drive up to a shelter where the brief but solemn service will be held. The riflemen stood on an adjacent road about 60 feet away. Once or twice each month, the Union Colony honor guard travels to Fort Logan to render honors at veterans services.
Up to 10 men, most in their 70s and 80s, often spend the day at Fort Logan for the tributes. They have participated in as many as a dozen burial services at the cemetery and traveled as far as Colorado Springs for others. The majority of their work comes at services in the Greeley area.
‘We come out because we want to,’ said Joe Meilinger, 63, commandant of the detachment and honor guard member. ‘We don’t care what branch they were in. We all fought for the same thing. ’ Meilinger called out commands to the riflemen on May 15 at Fort Logan.
He received word from another honor guard member, who was under the shelter with the veterans’ family and friends. The honor guard generally has little interaction with the veterans’ family or friends during the service. They receive a handshake from time to time, a ‘thank you’ as a vehicle drives by or a donation. One of the honor guard members presents the veterans’ representatives with a medallion coin and the dispensed blank cartridges from the three-round rifle salute.
Brass flies in the air as members of the Union Colony Marines Detachment 1093 Honor Guard fires a three volley rifle salute during a burial service at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver on Friday, May 15, 2026. Greeley resident Mike LeBrun recently left the honor guard after seven years. He was the sergeant for six of those years, meaning he commanded the riflemen. LeBrun estimates he attended more than 600 services.
He said the honor guard averaged more than 140 services a year from 2023 into this year and its work is a strong source of pride. LeBrun joined the Union Colony detachment about 10 years ago after retiring from the oil and gas business.
‘Every time I hear taps, it’s a lump in my throat,’ LeBrun said. ‘I think it’s a personal thing for me. It’s sad and honorable. ’ For LeBrun, the power of taps dates back almost 60 years to his first funeral as a Marine.
LeBrun served four years during the Vietnam era from 1964-68. He was stationed in North Carolina and Virginia. In 1967, he went to South Carolina with an honor guard for the funeral of a Black Marine killed in Vietnam. The details of the Marine’s funeral remain vivid, while the specifics of the veterans’ services in the past six years aren’t as clear.
There have been so many services here. A U.S. Air Force veteran’s cremated remains are carried by a Air Force honor guard from a hearse into a shelter for the burial service at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver on Friday, May 15, 2026. Earlier this month at Fort Logan, the Union Colony honor guard participated in five services. They went to a nearby Wendy’s for lunch with a late-morning break.
Giving multiple tributes in one day never gets tiresome, according to new Marines detachment member and honor guard commander Mark Stevens of Greeley. Stevens joined the detachment and honor guard about three months ago. He didn’t know about the detachment until someone told him about it. He looked up information and joined out of loyalty, camaraderie and ‘a sense of being.
’ Stevens also recently assumed leadership of the Marines detachment’s annual golf tournament in the fall
Fort Logan National Cemetery Veterans' Burial Services Honor Guard Members Union Colony Marines Detachment 1093 Rifle Salute Veterans' Service Organization Greeley Area Colorado Springs Honor Guard Commander Mark Stevens Annual Golf Tournament
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