A report on Col. Jeff Cooper's funeral

"Greetings from Gunsite, where the weather is beautiful and cooling off nicely as we head towards Fall.

We are extremely busy this week as we are runningfour classes and will be putting on the GASmatch this weekend. Following GAS we have anautomatic weapons class on Sunday and Monday and start several more classes on Monday as well.
I wanted to take some time and report to you on Jeff's funeral, which took place this Monday. As the family had wanted it to be a private affair I didn't put the word out in advance, for fear we would be overwhelmed with people wanting to be here. There was a service in the classroom followed by a graveside service at Jeff's mausoleum, which you may recall, was built in 1994 by Larry Larsen. A Marine honor guard carried the casket and the mausoleum was adorned with a U.S. and a Marine Corps flag. After a few words the Marines fired three volleys and then about 90 students and instructors on four different ranges let loose, on cue, and answered with a huge volume of gunfire. The bugler then blew taps and after that, the piper, who had started things off with Amazing Grace, played the Marine Corps Hymn. He then did an about face and slowly marched away playing the hymn over and over.

The Marine Captain who headed the detail said the barrage of gunfire made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end and Janelle, and almost everyone present, burst into tears. Jeff was sent out to the joyful sound of gunfire and everyone appreciated it. For the students and staff who were here and participated it was a chance to take part in something they will always remember.

After the graveside service everyone went back to the classroom for a reception featuring brownies, iced tea and lemonade, all cooked up by the Gunsite girls. As things were winding down, at about 5:15PM, a twin engine turbo prop private plane came diving in and just barely cleared the roof of the classroom in a banking turn. The pilot then put on the lowest level air show I have witnessed, complete with climbing up after the dives and doing rolls. On the final pass, as he buzzed us again, he couldn't have been more than 20 feet above the parking lot. He pulled up into a steep dive, did a complete loop and a couple of rolls and flew away. I was unaware that twin engine private planes like this could do that sort of thing and I'm sure they aren't rated for aerobatics, but we witnessed it.

So that was how it went here at Gunsite as we buried Jeff Cooper. I thought you might want to know."