Sen. Robert Byrd’s casket is carried into the Senate by an honor guard in Washington, DC, July 1, 2010. He was known in recent years for opposing the invasion of Iraq, but more so for bringing home incredible amounts of federal funding to West Virginia for over fifty years – and not just for its shiny highway system. While not quite collecting Monopoly money at Rep. John Murtha levels, Sen. Byrd kept the federal taps running – his bit of the FY 2010 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill included $95 million for West Virginia’s military installations alone.
In case you were wondering – although he was a ship welder during the war, honor guards can be used as flag escorts for official state ceremonies.
