It was 18 below zero when the Roseau Honor Guard - men mostly in their seventies - entered Rose Free Lutheran Church in rural Roseau on Saturday afternoon, December 30, to honor a departed comrade, Floyd B. Olson, on his final day above ground.

Later, towards the end of the funeral, the Firing Detail stood outside in the bitter cold awaiting Commander Don Kveen to call them to attention to fire off three volleys before bugler Jim Glennen, gloveless, was commanded to play Taps.

This is the way it is an average of 18 times a year whenever the Roseau Honor Guard is notified that a deceased ve...