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There is a famous scene in Star Trek 2 - The Wrath of Khan, where after heroically saving the Enterprise, Spock is "buried" with honours.

While Spock's death is possible the only one of a main character, (although I could be wrong on that as I've not watched all Star Trek series) it definitely is not the only one in Star Trek history, in fact there have been so many death's of Security Officers that it has become it's own trope.

However I don't recall any other such services being held for the valiant Security guys at any other of the Star Trek series or films.

Are there any other examples of such full honour burials in Star Trek?

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    memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Funeral_service
    – Rand al'Thor
    Commented Jun 23, 2021 at 17:51
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    "While Spock's death is possible the only one of a main character" — at the risk of spoiling you: er... Commented Jun 24, 2021 at 12:10
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    Can you specify more of what you expect a full honours burial is? This question is attracting a lot of near-miss answers because people don't seem to be clear on that.
    – AncientSwordRage
    Commented Jun 24, 2021 at 15:36
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    Also, Tasha Yar (TNG) was arguably a main character. And speaking of spoilers, that heroic sacrifice was definitely a main (and much loved!) character...
    – Matthew
    Commented Jun 24, 2021 at 16:39
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    Do we count funerals held for people who turn out not to be actually dead later on? I can think of several examples of that... Commented Jun 24, 2021 at 19:48

7 Answers 7

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In the TNG episode "Skin of Evil" (1×23), after Tasha Yar is killed on an away mission, the senior officers hold a funeral service in the holodeck, including a hologram of Tasha herself and taking place on a grassy hill.

Quoting from Memory Alpha:

On the holodeck, a funeral on a grassy knoll with a bright blue sky for Yar has begun. All of the senior staff – Worf, Data, La Forge, Beverly and Wesley Crusher, Riker, Troi, and Picard – attend the service. To begin the service, a hologram of Yar is played, with her noting all of the exceptional qualities that each member of the crew possess and what she in turn learned from them. The service concludes when the hologram of Yar fades away. Everyone leaves the holodeck, except Data and Picard. Data notes that, during the service, he was not thinking about Yar, but how empty it will be without her. He asks if he missed the point of the service, but Picard assures him that he understood it completely.

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    Note that Yar was also a main character up until that point.
    – trlkly
    Commented Jun 24, 2021 at 2:58
  • "where do you want to go today"
    – Jasen
    Commented Jun 24, 2021 at 12:19
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In Voyager, the episode "One Small Step", the bridge crew hold a funeral for Lieutenant John Kelly whose body they retrieved from a command module:

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    There's the friend of Harry too who's resurrected by the aliens
    – Liath
    Commented Jun 24, 2021 at 14:35
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    Is this a full honours funeral, as the question specifies?
    – Rand al'Thor
    Commented Jun 25, 2021 at 14:20
  • @Randal'Thor - it looks like it. UFP flag on the torpedo casing, officers in dress uniform...
    – Basya
    Commented Jun 27, 2021 at 8:57
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In TOS episode The Tholian Web (Season 3, Episode 9), Captain Kirk is trapped aboard the USS Defiant when it disappears into a dimensional rift. Mr. Spock is forced to presume the captain dead and holds a memorial service for him.

Approximately two dozen crew members assemble for Kirk's memorial service. … Spock speaks, noting Kirk's concern for his crewmembers that led him to stay aboard the Defiant. Spock repeats the sequence of events that led to Kirk's disappearance and says that the crew must accept the fact that their captain is no longer alive. … Spock concludes that "I shall not attempt to voice the quality of the respect and admiration Captain Kirk commanded. Each of you must evaluate the loss in the privacy of your own thoughts." Scott calls the crew to order, and they observe a moment of silence.

The Tholian Web, Memory Alpha

I wouldn't call this a “full honour burial,” as (a) there's no body or even empty casket to bury, and (b) Mr. Spock keeps it short because the Enterprise is still under threat from the Tholians, but it is a ceremony for the (presumed) death of a main character.

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  • You'd think that a funeral for the ship's captain would expect everyone but essential personnel on duty to attend.
    – Barmar
    Commented Jun 24, 2021 at 14:33
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    During an active thread as with the Tholian web, ship at general quarters, EVERYONE should have been on duty.
    – Zeiss Ikon
    Commented Jun 24, 2021 at 14:47
  • Also possible it was broadcast or otherwise available to the rest of the ship. It's not addressed. Commented Jun 24, 2021 at 17:02
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    @ZeissIkon: Also, not sure if it was intentional, but "active thread" from the Tholians is a good pun. :D Commented Jun 25, 2021 at 1:29
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While not a main character only a one-off guest character there's a funeral/memorial service for Ensign Jetal in the VOY episode Latent Image, including Janeway saying the same words Kirk did at the service in Wrath of Kahn:

"We come here today to pay final respects to our honored dead."

Again not a main character but a recurring one there's a funeral held for Airiam in the DIS episode The Red Angel, this time complete with the burial at sea in space using a torpedo for a coffin. This is probably closer to the sort of service that the OP is looking for I think.

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IIRC, in 'Star Trek: Enterprise' episode "Similitude" (season 3, episode 10), the first scene is of a funeral with at least all of the senior staff present. The scene cuts off at some point, and is finished near the end of the episode.

This is the funeral of what looks like the Chief Engineer, but later turns out to be his clone that was grown for neural tissue.

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In the original series episode The Galileo Seven, performing burial rites are actually a point of conflict between the characters.

Spock is in charge of a group of seven crewmembers aboard the shuttlecraft Galileo, which crash lands on the planet Taurus II. Lieutenants Latimer and Gaetano are killed by native creatures. Spock and Lieutenant Boma then argue over whether to give the dead a proper burial, which may expose the survivors to further attack. Spock relents, the funeral proceeds, and eulogies are given.

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In TNG’s “The Next Phase”, Data somehow was put in charge of arranging the funeral for Geordi LaForge and Ro Laren. After consulting with Worf, he decides to make it a celebration of their lives, complete with jazz band. You can’t get fuller honors than William Riker playing “When the Saints come Marching in” on his trombone.

The funeral is interrupted when both of the deceased turn up alive.

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