Obituary Example for a Veteran (Military Service, Honors, and Family)

Veterans' obituaries include a service paragraph with branch, years, where, and any decorations, usually right after the early life. Keep it factual; the rest of the obituary is about the person, not the uniform.

All names, places, and organisations are fictional.

Colonel Walter E. Brandt, USMC (Ret.), 84, of Fredericksburg, died on Monday, September 8, 2026, at Mary Washington Hospital, surrounded by his family.

Walter was born on February 2, 1942, in Dayton, Ohio, to Edward and Helen Brandt. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1960 at eighteen, was commissioned through the Enlisted Commissioning Program in 1966, and served two tours in Vietnam with the 1st Marine Division, where he was awarded the Bronze Star with Combat V and the Purple Heart. He went on to serve 30 years, with postings at Camp Lejeune, Okinawa, and Quantico, retiring as a colonel in 1990.

After retiring he taught history at Stafford High School for 16 years and coached the rifle team, which he took to the state championship three times. He said teaching sophomores was harder than commanding a battalion and required more patience.

He married Eleanor "Ellie" Pruitt in 1965 while stationed at Quantico; they were married 58 years until her death in 2023. He kept her garden going, badly, out of loyalty. He read every book about Lincoln ever printed, walked two miles every morning until this summer, and answered the phone "Brandt" until the end.

Walter is survived by his daughters, Katherine (Mark) Ellis of Richmond and Susan Brandt of Fredericksburg; his son, Lt. Col. Edward Brandt, USMC, of Jacksonville; his grandchildren, Thomas, Anna, William, Grace, and Charlotte; and his great-grandson, Owen. He was preceded in death by his wife, Ellie, his parents, and his brother, George.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, September 19, at Fredericksburg United Methodist Church, 308 Hanover Street, followed by interment with full military honors at Quantico National Cemetery at 2 p.m. A reception will follow at the church.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Semper Fi & America's Fund or the Stafford High School rifle team.

Notes on this example

• Rank and retirement status go in the first line for career officers: "Colonel Walter E. Brandt, USMC (Ret.)". For a two-year enlisted veteran, the service paragraph is enough.
• List decorations by name; do not embellish. Families can request the DD-214 from the National Archives to confirm details.
• Military honors at a national cemetery are arranged through the funeral home; note the time because the cemetery schedules them.
• The civilian life gets equal space. The uniform is one paragraph; the man is the rest.

Other examples

• For a mother
• For a father
• For a young adult
• Short newspaper version