A former member of the honor guard at a New Jersey veterans cemetery is raising a holy stink over the way the American military is burying its dead – after he was allegedly fired for saying “God bless you” at a funeral.
Patrick Cubbage, a Vietnam vet and a former Philadelphia cop, says that when he started saying “God bless you and this family, and God bless the United States of America” when handing the flag to the deceased’s next of kin, fellow honor guard members complained.
He said he was eventually fired from his $16-an- hour job at Brig. Gen. William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery near McGuire Air Force Base when his supervisor overheard him use the phrase at an October funeral.
“I said, ‘You’re firing me for saying God bless the United States of America,’ ” Cubbage said. “He said, ‘That’s right. I don’t want it said here.’ “
Last night, the military offered to reinstate the staff sergeant, as long as he accepts certain “terms and conditions.”
But Cubbage plans to refuse the offer because it makes no mention of the protocol for blessings and does not address issues such as back pay and damages, said his lawyer, John Whitehead.