Honor guard, vets council need volunteers, help

BELLA VISTA — The Bella Vista Honor Guard is in need of military veteran volunteers to help them perform last rites for fallen soldiers and other duties such as presenting colors at programs and special events.

Its parent organization, the Veterans Council of Northwest Arkansas, is also in need of help from the community to complete the expansion of the Veterans Wall of Honor in Bella Vista.

Honor Guard member Darryl Jouppi says at present, there are only 14 members in rotation on the honor guard, making it difficult to adequately cover the requested programs.

“Sometimes that rotation is such that maybe people are out of town,” he said. “Last month we had 10 funerals.”

Jouppi said military funeral rites require a noncommissioned officer to give the commands, five shooters for a salute, and a bugler, if requested.

“We’ve got a small rotation of people,” he said, pointing out that some of the members are elderly. “A couple of the guys are living in Concordia [senior retirement village]. And at this point they’re still fairly capable. But the one guy is in his 90s. So he can only rotate probably once every four missions. So the point would be to try to find people that are willing to join the honor guard and perform the last rites for fallen soldiers.”

Those willing to serve on the Bella Vista Honor Guard will need to present their DD214 discharge papers, Jouppi said, and also need to join the Veterans Council, which sponsors the group and provides the uniforms. There is an annual cost of $50 to join the Veterans Council, but if you serve on the honor guard, that fee is waived.

The honor guard has to be certified each year to do funerals and Jouppi pointed out this certification is taking place this month.

Jouppi not only volunteers on the honor guard, but also organizes events like the Memorial Day ceremony at the Veterans Wall of Honor. And if that’s not enough, he also heads up publicity for the Veterans Council.

There’s a big need for people to join the Veterans Council, Jouppi said, and although military service is required to become a board member, civilians can join the council and volunteer in many capacities.

“We just need people that are dedicated to come to meetings once a month, to discuss our plans and schedule, and then to be available to follow through with fundraisers and things of that nature,” he said. “Anyone can join. You don’t have to be a veteran.”

The Veterans Council of Northwest Arkansas meets the third Monday of each month in the boardroom of the Bella Vista Country Club. Meetings start at 9:30 a.m. and everyone is invited to attend, especially if interested in joining the council or serving on the honor guard. The next scheduled meeting is this coming Monday, March 18.

The council maintains the Veterans Wall of Honor and is in the process of expanding it at a projected cost of $1.5 million.

The original wall cost over $700,000 to complete, Jouppi said. It holds 4,800 names. Phase 2 currently has one panel up, but the groundwork has been laid for the next panel, he said. Each panel holds 288 names, and the first panel of the second phase currently has about 175 names installed.

Jouppi says the Veterans Council has been approved for a permanent display of an F/A-18 Hornet — the type of airplane used by the Blue Angels. He said the plane would be donated, but there would be costs involved to set it up at the Veterans Wall of Honor.

“We’re in rotation for that,” he said. “If we did get it, it’s $100,000 to dismantle the plane and haul it here. We’d have to build a pedestal in order to hold it, and then put it back together again.”

All of the these plans, including the wall expansion alone, carry big price tags and Jouppi says fundraising is definitely an area that needs help.

“Right now our fundraisers have been small potatoes,” he said.

For more information about how you can help with the Veterans Wall of Honor, the Bella Vista Honor Guard or the Veterans Council of Northwest

Arkansas, contact Jouppi at 763-784-9141 (message requested) or email him at darryljjouppi@yahoo.com.

(Submitted Photo) The Bella Vista Honor Guard is pictured on Memorial Day 2023 at the Veterans Wall of Honor. The personnel are (from left, front row): Darryl Jouppi, Bill Wildman, Roger Armstrong, Bill Dieleman, Art Lawless, Rob Gain; (back row) Bob Warren, Bob Bradley and Charlie Breitzke.

(Submitted Photo) Honor Guard Member Mark Lloyd (at podium) provided the keynote message for the 2023 Memorial Day ceremony at the Veterans Wall of Honor in Bella Vista. Founder’s daughter Lisa Watten (seated at right) and Mayor John Flynn were among the 300-plus attendees. This year’s ceremony is set for 11 a.m. on May 27.