MILITARY BROADCASTING PIONEER
BURIED WITH HONORS AT ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
Arlington, VA .....16 Nov ...(Special to the AFN Bulletin
Board)
93-year-old
Colonel Robert Cranston, the "Iconic" G.I. Broadcasting officer with
more than a quarter of a century of service to this country, was laid to rest with full military honors on
a green hillside, among many other fallen heroes, at Arlington National
Cemetery Thursday, on a beautiful, late fall morning, under a verdant blue sky, as a gentle breeze whispered through the
still colorful, fall foliage.
The burial service was conducted by Army Chaplin Captain
Matt Madison, a three-tour veteran of the fighting in Afghanistan, who briefly,
but completely, summarized Colonel Cranston's military career in the historic
Old Post Chapel on Fort Myer, home of the Honor Guard, and immediately adjacent
to Arlington National Cemetery. About 40
people attended the service at the chapel, including Sandra "Sandy"
Cranston, the Colonel's widow, her two adult children and two of the Colonel's
grandchildren. There were nine people
altogether in the family group. Outside
the chapel, prior to the service, as the Honor Guard was doing its last minute
drilling, Piper Gustav "Gus" Person played a variety of tunes to the
left of the main entrance. Person, a
retired Lt. Colonel in the Army, and a
bagpiper with The Alexandria City Pipes and Drums, served in Berlin during his
military career, and was a regular listener to AFN Berlin.
At least five
former AFN broadcasters also attended
the burial, including Kayo Mullen aka Jack McCarthy, who flew from Central
Florida to be present at the service.
Also in attendance was retired Navy Captain Maury Cagle, a former
civilian AFN news editor, the current AFN Bulletin Board "co-webmistress,"
Judy Boysha, who took time off from her federal Video Production Chief
job, Shel Smith, who was hosting Kayo
Mullen, and your reporter, retired Army
Pvt. Andrew Guthrie As people did not
wear name tags, there may well have been a few former AFNers in the group who
were not recognized. In addition to
family friends of the Cranston's from Bedford County, Virginia, was a group of
three or four retired officers from the SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied
Powers Europe) Officers Association Washington chapter, with whom Colonel
Cranston served.
Following the
short service in the chapel, the Chaplin led the procession of the urn carrying
Colonel Cranston's ashes out of the chapel, where the Third U. S. Army Band,
"The Pershing's Own," played a salute as the urn was placed on the
caisson for the procession to the cemetery.
At Colonel Cranston's request, the caisson was drawn by six white
horses, and the traditional riderless horse, with upturned boots, led the
procession to the burial side, about a quarter mile away. The mourners were given time to return to
their cars, and followed the caisson. At
the burial site, Chaplin Madison again welcomed the mourners, and recited
verses from the Bible dealing with death and everlasting life. Then the U.S. Flag that draped the caisson
was undraped fully by the honor guard over the casket, then, with crisp
precision, was folded into the all-too-familiar neat triangle, and Chaplin
Madison presented it to Mrs. Cranston with some whispered remarks.
This was followed
by a volley of three shots fired by the Honor Guard, and then Taps, as the
crowd and the troops, stood at attention, rendering the salute. Immediately following Taps, the Cemetery
official declared the burial over, and the Piper then played the traditional
Scottish funeral aire, "Flowers of the Forest" as the crowd remained
standing. With the mourners then
returning to their cars, the Piper played the stirring "Scotland the
Brave."
A reception was
held after the burial at the Fort Myer Officer's Club, with a wide selection of
hors d'oeuvres, including delicious hot crab dip on French bread. There was punch for some, however many of the
mourners elected to honor Colonel Cranston 's passing with a variety of single
malt Scotch and other drinks. The
reception lasted at least an hour, during which Piper Person serenaded the
group with more tunes on the bagpipe.
Following the reception, the
retired AFNers and the Cranston family group drove to Pat Troy's
Ireland's Own Pub in the historic downtown area of Alexandria, a city founded
in the mid 1700's by Scottish merchants when it was the tobacco port for
Northern Virginia, in sending that cash crop to smokers on the continent. Those of age partook of several glasses of
Glenlivet 16 year-old single malt, and the four AFN veterans told the Colonel's
grandchildren stories of their time at the Castle von Brunning in Hoechst and
what life and broadcasting was like in the time they served under Colonel
Cranston.
During the period prior to the service, your reporter
passed out copies of Colonel Cranston's obituaries to the Honor Guard and to
the members of the unit attending the horses that would carry the caisson to
the burial site. I also took the
opportunity to tell one of the horses that he and his mates would be carrying a
very special officer to his final resting site and that they should be
proud. He may have understood me. I can tell all of you that several sergeants
and the Captain of one of the several Honor Guard components, himself a veteran
of a tour in Afghanistan, told me that no one, of the many burial parties for
months before this one, (Arlington does 30 funerals every day!) had ever taken
the trouble to inform the Guardsmen of the background of the officer they were
honoring. It occurred to me, that, as so
many of us feel so deeply about Colonel Cranston, I did not want him to be, at
his burial, yet another "anonymous"
military officer, to them, but
rather a man who's expansion of G. I. broadcasting had most likely been a part
of their lives. And several of them
thanked me for including them.
Mrs. Cranston, who
is a real computer artist, produced, at the last minute, a service program, with a color and black and
white cover montage of Colonel Cranston's life
It was beautiful, and inside was
a brief history of his accomplishments.
In an effort to allow all of you to feel that you were with us at the
burial, not just "in spirit" I am including an attachment of the
lovely program. Please understand that
Sandy did this in just a day or two, so bear with her in the misspelling of
Fort Meyer. It was an outstanding
achievement!
For your information, you reporter wore his ancient
Guthrie tartan kilt, with the Pfc. stripes on the jacket that Colonel Cranston
purchased for me on his 90th birthday, and four ribbons, about which the
Colonel took the trouble to write to me, when I told him I never got a single
medal at the end of my service. He even
included a catalogue with each one circled!
Sadly and respectfully,
Army Pfc. (by Colonel's order) Andrew Guthrie (Ret.) AFN
Headquarters Newsroom 1960-'61 Frankfurt am Main Hoechst
Posts
