PEARL HARBOR (Eagle News) – Located along the entrance to Pearl Harbor and facing the peninsula of Ewa Beach stands a sculpture that epitomizes one of the most dignified, most solemn of military traditions.

The Missing Man Memorial is a metallic work of art located at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. It depicts four F-22 Raptor fighter jets flying side by side, with one of them appearing to point higher, aiming toward the heavens and leaving its post from the formation.

This said aerial demonstration is part of a flyby of aircraft during a funeral or memorial event, typically in memory of a distinguished military service member or veteran, or a respected civilian public figure.

Other equally poignant renditions of honor to the fallen include transporting the casket on a couple of old-style horse-drawn carts known as a caisson accompanied by a military detail; the 3-round volley, which is fired from a squad of military personnel; the riderless horse that consists of a pair boots attached to the stirrups but facing backwards; and the bugle playing a verse or two of “Taps.”

(Alfred Acenas, Hawaii-Pacific Bureau, Eagle News Service)