Photo: Petty Officer 2nd Class Cynthia Oldham — Coast Guard
Andrew Haines, a World War II veteran who emigrated from Norway as a child, wanted a Viking funeral. He realized that building a pyre on a full sized Viking ship would be impractical, so Haines decided to build a small replica to carry his ashes. He ultimately built five small boats before deciding on a 54″ model. Andrew Haines, died in late August at age 89 and the US Coast Guard, Station Atlantic City, helped give him the Viking funeral that he had dreamed of for years. On September 29th, Andrew Haines ashes were set into his tiny Viking ship and set ablaze three miles offshore. As reported by the Navy Times:
“Burial at sea is not that uncommon,” Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class Christopher Fonseca, Atlantic City’s operations officer, told Navy Times. “We probably do about seven a year just at Atlantic City.”
Once the station came up with a plan to safely bring the wooden boat out to sea and set it on fire, they coordinated with the family to set up a ceremony. Fonseca said about 30 people came to say goodbye to Haines ashore.
After a group memorial, a few close family members and a preacher rode out on a 47-foot motor boat with Fonseca’s team, as the rest of the party threw flowers into the water behind them.
About three miles off the coast, Fonseca and his crew brought the miniature Viking ship down to a recess in their boat, lit the wood shavings inside on fire with a flare and sent it out to sea.
It took about 20 minutes to burn, he said. The family said some last words, and one crew member read a nautically themed Alfred Lord Tennyson poem, “Crossing the Bar.”
Fonseca said he’d done a few burials at sea in his career — they are free to any military veteran — but never one this elaborate.
“Scattering ashes and flowers is pretty much the norm,” he said.
Caitlin Doughty, a licensed mortician, has a video series titled “Ask a Mortician.” Last year she addressed the issue of Viking funerals and came up with roughly the same solution as Andrew Haines. Technically, Caitlin’s Viking send off wasn’t entirely legal as ashes are supposed to be scattered at least three miles off shore.
Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing along the story.
That pair are aces at the their profession.