The simple answer is that the Marines make it look effortless – but it’s also more than that.
Body bearers, as the name implies, are U.S. troops specially tasked to carry the remains of their services’ honored dead to their final resting place. For the Marine Corps body bearers at Arlington National Cemetery, it’s an honor they’re willing to put their rest of their lives on hold for. For those Marines charged with holding up the standard of “flawless funerals” it’s kind of a requirement.
Like everything else the Corps does, being a body bearer is much more difficult than in other branches. Marine Corps Body Bearers pride themselves on being the only branch to use six pallbearers to carry a casket. The other branches use eight. Unlike everything else it does, it’s not because they have to, it’s a point of pride. To perform upwards of five funerals a day holding caskets that can weigh up to 800 pounds while keeping each at a perfect elbow-level requires incredible strength and stamina.
“You go through the training mentally and physically for six to twelve months,” said Justin Shevlin, a Body Bearer Instructor at Marine Barracks Washington. “It’s a self-paced course and it depends on the Marine individually… as a body bearer candidate, you’re gonna find yourself hurting almost 24-7. The physical strain that your body goes through day in and day out… it’s not an easy school.”
Body Bearer Marines go to Ceremonial Drill School (CDS), which requires an initial strength test, which requires them to perform a 225-pound bench press, a 315-pound squat, a 135-pound behind-the-head military press and a 115-pound straight bar curl.
“It’s takes a little bit to get used to,” Body Bearer Michael Ryder of the Marine Barracks in Washington said in a 2014 interview. “In my experience, it was harder than boot camp… it’s a grind. If you can pass the initial strength test, that’s when your CDS journey begins.”
From there, Body Bearer Marines train with trash cans full of cement and caskets loaded with weights so they can lift and carry the required minimum of 200 pounds. They breathe through their noses so they don’t give any hint that they’re exerting themselves.
For anyone who’s ever seen a burial at Arlington National Cemetery, it’s not hard to understand why. The ground isn’t always even or level, there’s no guaranteed body weight for the departed and if the caisson breaks, they will have to carry the casket all the way to the gravesite. The most difficult test of strength is that Marines raise the casket to eye level and hold it for ten seconds before setting it down on the final resting place.
Viewers will be astonished to see that their work is done in swift, graceful and respectful movements. During their tours as a Body Bearer, each Marine will perform hundreds of funerals.
“One of the biggest mental obstacles our candidates face during their time in CDS is that they need to learn how to be selfless,” Shevlin added. “Candidates tend to focus on their own needs and not on the big picture of what a Body Bearer means… being a Body Bearer is important to me because I get to perform those funerals for the loved ones, those family members, and really show what type of hero that person was.”
“Just about every day is somebody’s worst day,’ said Ryder. “It’s one of those jobs that is taxing on your emotions, but when you get it perfect, perfect for the family, everything is worth it.”