NAVAL BASE PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii -- Marines honored a World War II veteran who served in Guadacanal, the Battle of Midway and in the attack of Pearl Harbor, with a burial at sea Feb. 22 at Admiral's Landing on Ford Island.
George Barna, a former Marine technical sergeant, passed away Dec. 23 of complications associated with Alzheimer's disease, while being cared for at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans, Grand Rapids, Mich.
After a memorial service for him Dec. 28 at the veterans' home, his ashes were shipped to Hawaii for the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association Incorporated to administer final honors.
"The program was set up to honor individuals that were here (on island) during the Dec. 7, 1941, attack by the Japanese," said Jim Taylor, Navy funeral honors coordinator.
Barna was a private during the attack and was awakened that morning by the sound of low flying planes and dropping bombs near what is now Hickam Air Force Base.
"They were flying so close that I could see the faces of the Japanese pilots flying overhead," Taylor recalled Barna saying.
The family of the 3rd Marine Defense Battalion communication specialist was not able to attend the spreading of his ashes into the sea, so Taylor videotaped the entire ceremony.
A funeral for a Marine is normally done with the assistance of a funeral detail. The detail was provided by Headquarters Company, 3rd Marine Regiment, and Marine Forces Pacific Band.
"Ready, aim, fire," said the detail staff noncommissioned officer in charge.
With that command given three times, 21 rounds were expended in honor of the WWII veteran.
"This family has lost a very dear man, and the world has lost a very good man," said Barna's daughter Susan Karnitz in a letter written for the ceremony.
Many family members wrote letters about their lost loved one, expressing their fond memories of this Marine.
To honor the WWII veteran, Taylor included in his video the two monuments that symbolized the beginning and ending of the war Barna fought in, the USS Arizona Memorial and USS Missouri.