Have you been to a funeral for a first responder?

I've just returned home from upstate New York where we went to the funeral for my dh's brother. The brother had been in the Marines, and then he became a New York state trooper. He went to New York City on 9-11 and spent a couple of weeks there helping with search and rescue. Several years ago he was diagnosed with a type of lung cancer that they know is environmental, so his death is considered a "line of duty" death, a term I'd never heard before. I mean, of course I know "killed in the line of duty" but this wasn't that since he's retired. 

Anyway, I had no idea how big of an event this was going to be. The governor ordered flags on all state buildings to be lowered to half mast for the two days of his wake and funeral. And she came to the wake and spent a good amount of time talking to all of us. The line for the wake went down the block and was constant for most of the three hours. They actually had the wake at the church (in Troy) instead of the funeral home because of how many people they knew would be there. There was a round-the-clock honor guard (two troopers at a time, who switched out obviously).

For the funeral there were hundreds of troopers, bagpipes (which apparently is a tradition at troopers' funerals...who knew?), sharp shooters on the church roof for security , Marines and troopers to carry the casket... After the funeral we (the families) drove up to the national cemetery in Saratoga. All along the way the local police had roads blocked off at all intersections. The Troy fire department had two hook and ladder trucks making an arch along one part of the route with a giant American flag.

We had to laugh a bit when we arrived in Saratoga... When we left the church in Troy the troopers, bagpipers, motorcycles, etc. had been all lined up outside the church. When we arrived at the Saratoga cemetery the troopers, bagpipers, motorcycles, etc. were all lined up in the same formation waiting for us. Of course we drove slowly through the neighborhoods while they zoomed up the highway. lol. That, or else they teleported straight there.  

Every little logistical thing was taken care of by the NY Troopers' Employee Assistance Program people. There was one assigned to the family, plus five or six more who were there. My brother-in-law's wife didn't have to worry about any detail...the EAP guys were there to make it happen, whatever she wanted and whatever needed to happen. They watched over the rest of us family also... if we looked around as if we had a question one would appear at our elbow to see what we needed. 

Anyway, it was completely amazing to me. Obviously I've seen funerals like this on TV, and processions passing me on the roads here. But I've never actually been in one. And honestly, I knew my brother-in-law as "Uncle Pat" (what we called him when we talked about him to the kids), and although of course I knew he'd been at Ground Zero in NYC I never thought a lot about that. But when the superintendent was speaking at the funeral and listing all the things that Pat had done...well it was pretty amazing. I knew he was a hero in the real sense of the word, but still...wow.  

Any of you whose spouse is a first responder or military, kudos to them.