Community Shows Love on Valentine's Day Military Funeral

Community gathers for funerals of veterans who had no family
Caller Times
Meagan Falcon
February 14, 2018

Silence filled the air Wednesday at Coastal Bend State Veterans Cemetery.

Tears rolled down the cheeks of strangers as they honored and remembered two veterans, who had no other family.

Although their families could not be found, over two hundred people visited Coastal Bend State Veterans Cemetery to attend the funerals of retired Army Cpl. Howard Mason Lyman and retired Navy Hospital Corpsman, First Class Randy Glade Shultz.

"We may have not known the veterans, but it is important to have the public remember what these men sacrificed when they served our country," said Eric Brown, deputy director for the Texas State Veterans Cemetery. "They did not know us, but that didn't stop them from from raising their right hand to defend us."
read more here

Navy Veteran's Mom Denied VISA, Missed His Funeral

Navy veteran’s mother denied visa to attend his funeral

WREG 3 News

Luke Jones

January 9, 2018

"He's already done for this country, but what has this country done for him? What did this country do for him?" Truong asked.

BLYTHEVILLE, Ark. — He proudly served his country, but when it came time to bury him, a Navy veteran's father said the government wouldn't grant his son's mother a visa to attend his funeral.

Ngoc Truong, a four-year Navy veteran, died of leukemia Dec. 17 at the age of 22.

Truong's father, who owns a jewelry store in Blytheville, said Truong's Vietnam-born mother applied for a visa twice but was denied both times.

She ended up missing the funeral.

"That's what made me fuming mad. Fuming. Why?" Truong said.

read more here

"...some deal alone with pain of military suicide"

Some survivors are offered help, some deal alone with pain of military suicide
Tampa Bay Times
Howard Altman
Times staff writer
December 28, 2017

A retired deputy with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, she spent 15 years on the crisis negotiation team, talking people out of taking their own lives. But there was nothing she could do for her son. 

Compounding the tragedy, she said, is that she was left to deal with it on her own. There was no help from the Marines. No casualty assistance officer. No honor guard. Nothing.

Nearly 500 troops killed themselves last year and the numbers are on pace to far exceed that in 2017. Thousands of former service members, about 20 a day in 2014, also take their own lives.

Suicide has hit home this year for some two dozen military families across Tampa Bay, including those left behind by a soldier from Tampa and by a Marine veteran — still carrying the scars of battle — from Indian Rocks.

The two men had their service in common, but the military stepped in to help ease the grief for only one of the families, pushing the other to join a cause: that no survivors of a military suicide should walk alone.

A Facebook post from Army Pfc. Matthew Forstrom left his parents horrified and helpless.

"... this isn’t anyone’s fault but my own," Forstrom wrote in a 341-word suicide note that appeared at 5:05 p.m. Dec. 4. "I only wish I had done it sooner."

Relatives of Army Pfc. Matthew Forstrom console each other near his flag draped coffin as it arrives at Tampa International Airport on Dec. 5. An Army Honor Guard received Forstrom's body during a plane-side service. [LUIS SANTANA | Times]

The words set in motion ripples of action, from the 24-year-old soldier’s base in Fort Bliss, Texas, to his home town of Tampa. The Army and local law enforcement launched a massive search effort. His mother, Pamela Andrews, who was alerted to the post by a relative, sent her son an urgent text message.

You better call me back right now.

He did, Andrews said, and the two spoke briefly.

"He just wanted to ask for my forgiveness. He was going to take one more thing from me."

For 12 agonizing hours, Andrews and Forstrom’s father, Ronald Forstrom, who was on a business trip to Indiana, waited for news.

But the Army and first responders couldn’t find their son in time.

And so on a Friday night earlier this month, relatives and friends of Forstrom’s gathered in the cellphone lot at Tampa International Airport to wait for an escort onto the tarmac so they could watch a flag-drapped coffin come off American Airlines Flight 2623.
read more here

Afghanistan Veteran's Funeral With Marvel Super Heroes Friends

Family and friends dress as Marvel superheroes for funeral of comic book-mad Afghanistan veteran, 30, who died in road smash
Daily Mail
By Bridie Pearson-jones For Mailonline
19 December 2017

The Afghanistan veteran and budding actor was a huge comic book fan, particularly Marvel's Avengers His family threw a superhero themed funeral, where hundreds came dressed as Roman's favourite characters
Friends and family came dressed as Iron Man, Wolverine, Spiderman, Deadpool, Bananama and Black Widow

An Afghanistan veteran, 30, who died in a lorry crash was given a fitting send-off after his family and friends dressed as his favourite comic book characters at his funeral. People dressed as Bananaman from the Beano comics, as well as Marvel characters

An Afghanistan veteran, 30, who died in a lorry crash was given a fitting send-off after his family and friends dressed as his favourite comic book characters at his funeral.

Hundreds of mourners turned out to pay their respects to Marvel superfan Roman Parsons at Carmountside Crematorium in Stoke-on-Trent on Tuesday.

Grieving relatives came dressed as Iron Man, Wolverine, Spiderman and Deadpool ahead of the emotional service.

Others wore Bananaman and Black Widow outfits at the budding actor's funeral.

The lorry driver passed away when his HGV ploughed into the back of a broken down truck on the A500 on November 24.

Roman, of Blurton, Stoke-on-Trent was a lifelong comic book fan, and had dreamed of starring in an Avengers movie after signing with the Amanda Andrews Agency last year. He'd also spent six months working as a rail engineer in Afghanistan as part of a six-year stint in the Army, before becoming a lorry driver in 2009.
read more here

Did you know Vietnam Veteran Glenn Shelton?

Veteran with no family at funeral not forgotten

WTHR 13 News
Rich Nye
December 16, 2017

The veterans in the pews did not know the Marine in the casket draped with the American flag. But they answered the call to honor a brother.
"Coming and showing our solidarity and showing the love for a brother that we don't know really helps other veterans,” said Pryor. “It helps those that are homeless, those that are dealing with TBIs (traumatic brain injuries), PTSDs (post traumatic stress disorder) and moral injuries."

INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) – The sanctuary at Allisonville Christian Church was nearly full Saturday afternoon for the funeral service of a Marine who died with no known family.

"We didn't know him, but yet we showed up, because vets help vets,” said Russell Pryor, Veterans of Foreign Wars district 11 commander. “Vets take care of vets. I think this was wonderful today. I mean to see every place out here looking around being filled with people who just have a love in their heart because of a service that he did for us and for this country."
read more here



Search continues for family of abandoned veteran
WTHR 13 News
Kevin Rader
December 15, 2017

FISHERS, Ind. (WTHR) - A memorial service for Glenn Shelton, 68, will take place on Saturday.

The story of the abandoned Vietnam veteran has spread all across the country.

About all we know is that Glenn Shelton was a Vietnam veteran who was awarded a Purple Heart.

We didn't know why this man came to Indiana (he had roots in Kentucky) but late Thursday we got word that revealed Shelton may have some extended family in this area. We attempted to make contact by phone and in person on Friday but got no answers.

read more here

Nevada Honors 13 Veterans With Proper Burial

Military funeral honors men who served during World War II, Korea, Vietnam

Nevada Appeal

Steve Ranson

December 8, 2017

FERNLEY — Each veteran could have been someone's brother, son or husband, yet for some reason beyond their control, they became forgotten after they died.

The Patriot Guard marches toward the ceremonial area with U.S. flags Steve Ranson

With their custom-made urns lined up like soldiers in formation, a folded flag leaned against the middle urns, symbolic of their service to their country during one of three wars: World War II, Korea or Vietnam.

The Nevada Veterans Coalition conducted its sixth Missing in Nevada funeral at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery with military honors Friday to remember 13 men who never received the proper burial after they died. Some of remains sat on a shelf — covered with thick dust — for decades until testing determined the identity of each veteran. Of the 13 men, 11 served during World War II and one each from Korea and Vietnam, while the oldest veteran was 87 years old when he died.

WWII — Thomas Anderson (1920-1977), U.S. Army 1940–1945.

WWII —James Betancourt (1926-1993), U.S. Navy 1944–1944.

WWII— John Bohm (1925-1979), U.S. Navy 1942– 1946.

WWII —James Brady (1915-1972), U.S. Army 1942–1946.

WWII— Joe Brown (1905-1987), U.S. Army 1942–1944.

Vietnam — Dale Carrigan (1950-1986), U.S. Army 1968 – 1970.

WWII — George Carson (1917-2004), U.S. Army 1944 –1946.

Korean —Paul Cole (1937-1997), U.S. Air Force 1954–1962.

WWII —Willie Crumpler (1902-1977) served in the U.S. Army 1942–1943.

WWII — Howard Davis (1909-1990), U.S. Army 1944–1946.

WWII —Edgar Erickson (1920-1992), U.S. Army 1940–1945.

WWII — Sherwood Jerome (1926-1992), U.S. Army 1944–1954.

WWII — Clyde Matthews (1906-1990), U.S. Navy/US ARNG 1926-1936/1940-1943.

read more here

Civil War Veteran No Longer Missing in America

Civil War veteran finally laid to rest more than 100 years after his death
Kitsap Sun
Julianne Stanford 
Sept. 28, 2017

"When I picked that guy up, I had tears in my eyes. I was able to hold the cremains of a veteran of the Civil War, but I felt a great sense of sadness for all of the other unclaimed remains of people whose families hadn't come to get them." Jim Diamond

RETSIL -- More than 100 years after his death, a Civil War soldier was finally laid to rest with full military honors at the Washington Veterans Home at Retsil on Thursday.

Zachariah M. Stucker served as a musician and later as a private in the Union's 48th Illinois Infantry Regiment from 1861 to 1865. He was a resident at the veterans home from 1910 until his death in 1914 at the age of 69.

Stucker's remains were sent to Seattle for cremation after his death, but for unknown reasons they were never returned to Retsil. His remains sat in storage for decades until his name was discovered on a list of unclaimed remains at the Lake View Cemetery in Seattle by a volunteer with the Missing in America Project, which seeks to locate the unclaimed remains of veterans and provide burial services for them.

“What is really sad is that he has been missing for 103 years,” said Lourdes "Alfie” Alvarado-Ramos, director of the Washington Department of Veterans Affairs, during the ceremony. “That is 103 Memorial Days where nobody put a flag by his headstone. That is countless holidays, Christmases, where he didn’t get a wreath on his grave. But now, that’s over.”

Civil War historian Jim Dimond went to the Seattle cemetery last weekend to recover Stucker's remains and bring them back to Retsil.

"When I picked that guy up, I had tears in my eyes," Dimond said. "I was able to hold the cremains of a veteran of the Civil War, but I felt a great sense of sadness for all of the other unclaimed remains of people whose families hadn't come to get them."
read more here

Vietnam Veteran's Widow Planned Lonely Funeral For Tomorrow

UPDATE She was not alone!

Colorado Springs widow gives final salute to veteran husband who died suddenly

Read the story here

Widow of Vietnam veteran worries she'll be alone for his funeral

KOAA News

Alasyn Zimmerman

September 28, 2017

When Ute Belasco's husband Roman passed away, she felt a series of emotions. From sadness, loneliness, and even anger- she wasn't sure where to turn. 

'It's like your brain dies for a while," said Belasco.

Roman, a Vietnam veteran served in the United States military for 20 years. Belasco remembers those years fondly. 

With nowhere to turn and unsure of what to do, she did know one thing: 'I knew he needed the honor,' said Belasco. 

With no family and not many friends, Belasco worried she would be all alone for her husband's funeral. 

Luckily, her neighbor reached out to some veterans services in hopes she would be alone and would have the support of some of his fellow veterans. 

'We can't let a veteran down, we really need[ed] to help," said Cynthia Galvin.

Galvin is with the Veterans of Foreign Wars, she says when she heard Belasco's story it was tough news to hear. "We have a saying, never leave a comrade behind, so we had to go and help," said Galvin.

read more here 

"The funeral will take place on Saturday, September 30th."

If my work has done anything for you over these years, then please give me an anniversary gift. Tomorrow is my anniversary with my husband. She is burying her's.

Please show up for this widow and honor the love she had for her husband! 

27 Veterans Laid to Rest After Being Forgotten

Remains of 27 veterans laid to rest after decades

KMVT 11 News

Rebecca Kitchen

September 26, 2017

FERNLEY, Nev. (KOLO) -- They served our county, but for decades, the remains of 27 veterans were unclaimed at Walton's Mortuary in Fernley, Nevada. They served in World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, and most of them passed nearly 30 years ago.

"Nobody ever came to claim them," Tom Draughon with the Northern Nevada Veterans Coalition said. "Nobody ever came and took them home."

Draughon says they will continue to look until every veteran who passes hears the words, 'Well done, good and faithful patriot. Enter into your well earned rest."

To learn more about the Missing in America Project, click here.

The veterans who were laid to rest are:

Charles Beckerman (1896-1984) served in the US Navy 1918 - 1918 WWI

Gerald Gillingham (1900-1990) served in the US Army 1918 - 1918 WWI

Edward Gerval (1915-1990) served in the US Navy 1945 - 1945 WWII

Joseph Bosse (1917-1988) served in the US Army 1941 - 1945 WWII

William Degliantoni (1919-1990) served in the US Navy 1940 - 1945 WWII

William Guthrie (1925-1990) served in the US Navy 1943 - 1946 WWII

Arturo Hayes (1922-1983) served in the US Marine Corp 1944 - 1946 WWII

Webster Johnson (1911-1988) served in the US Navy 1942 - 1946 WWII

Bernard Koolpe (1914-1988) served in the US Army 1940 - 1945 WWII

Richard Long (1921-1988) served in the US Army 1943 - 1950 WWII

Sterling McPherson (1921-1990) served in the US Army 1945 - 1947 WWII

Knox Moore (1921-1989) served in the US Merchant Marines 1942 - 1945 WWII

Eddie Robbins (1923-1988) served in the US Army 1945 - 1947 WWII

Andrew Sealock (1920-1990) served in the US Army 1943 - 1946 WWII

Earl Spaulding (1921-1989) served in the US Navy 1943 - 1945 WWII

Lorenzo Thompson (1913-1988) served in the US Army 1942 - 1945 WWII

Heinrich Ulrich Jr. (1907-1989) served in the US Navy 1943 - 1945 WWII

James White (1915-1989) served in the US Army 1943 - 1946 WWII

James Wilson (1920-1988) served in the US Army 1944 - 1946 WWII

James Adams (1924-1989) served in the US Navy 1944 - 1952 WWII/Korea

Edward Alexander (1921-1989) served in the US Navy 1941 - 1952 WWII/Korea

Lyle LaMere (1923-1989) served in the US Air Force 1942 - 1963 WWII/Korea

Devier Tozer (1925-1989) served in the US Navy 1943 - 1950 WWII/Korea

Terry Fausch (1934-1983) served in the US Air Force 1951 - 1955 Korea

Patrick Ingram (1936-1985) served in the US Army 1954 - 1957 Korea

Charles Roe (1921-1990) served in the US Navy 1941 - 1946/1969 - 1974 WWII/Vietnam

Ronald Bowser (1947-1984) served in the US Army 1965 - 1976 Vietnam

read more here

Marine's call-to-action about honoring fallen veteran goes viral

Houston area Marine's call-to-action about honoring fallen veteran goes viral

By Amanda Cochran - Social Media Producer

Posted: 4:09 PM, August 11, 2017
HOUSTON - A Marine has issued a touching call-to-action to service members and the public in the Houston area to honor a fallen veteran at his funeral services next week.

Lance Cpl. Ruben Vega Jr. died in California in a car accident last Friday at the age of 22, but his funeral will be held in Houston on Tuesday.

Chris Blanco posted a video about Vega’s death on his Facebook page, urging more service members to attend after he learned that only about 20 people would be able to attend his services.
read more here

Navy Veteran Edward Merrick Laid to Rest by SWAT Team

Killeen: Navy veteran with no family laid to rest

KWTX 10 News

By Sam DeLeon
August 8, 2017

KILLEEN, Texas (KWTX) Mildred Wilson was the caretaker for Edward Merrick, a Big Spring native and Navy veteran who died last week with no family to lay him to rest.

"People do care for those that have no family. I considered him part of my family and to know others will accept him that way as is wonderful, it really is," said Wilson

Today, Central Texas residents, local veterans and members of the Williamson County SWAT Team were at Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery in Killeen to give Merrick a burial with military honors.

The officers stepped in as pallbearers for Merrick.

read more here

Portraits in Courage Air Force LT. Col. Bill Schroeder

Courage when it counts
Northwest
Florida Daily News
Annie Blanks
Updated Aug 4, 2017

Abby Schroeder wants people to know her husband was courageous up until his last breath.

Abby Schroeder and her sons, Mason, center and Noah, right, lean over Lt. Col. Bill Schroeder's casket at his funeral last June. Schroeder as killed in a workplace violence indident at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland on April 8 2016. (Abby Schroeder/special to the Daily News)

Lt. Col. Bill Schroeder, an airman who spent time at Hurlburt Field, was killed last April in his office at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland when a disgruntled tech sergeant opened fire and shot him before turning the gun on himself.

Investigators believe Bill’s actions that day saved countless lives. And this weekend, he is being posthumously honored at the 10th annual Portraits in Courage program in Washington, D.C., which honors service members for their heroics. His wife, Abby, is attending the program this weekend to accept the distinguished award on his behalf.

“It’s a way to honor all of these Air Force personnel for their actions that go above and beyond,” Abby said over the phone from Washington, D.C. Friday. 

“They put themselves in danger in acts of courage both in combat and within their communities.”
read more here

101st Remember Fallen Soldiers While The Rest of the Country Forgets

Close-knit military community feels pain of deaths in wars the nation has forgotten

STARS AND STRIPES 
By DIANNA CAHN 
Published: July 30, 2017

The procession crossed the base that straddles the Kentucky-Tennessee border, past training grounds where members of the 101st Airborne Division prepare for war, past buildings where they reunite with loved ones when they return and past the headquarters where a long corridor bears the names of the thousands of “Screaming Eagle” soldiers who didn’t make it home. In wars that most have forgotten about, troops are still dying from hostile fire.

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — Rain came in a deluge on the Friday of Sgt. William Bays’ funeral.

A 101st Airborne Division soldier prays at the memorial service for Sgt. William Bays, who was killed in action in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan on June 10, 2017. MICHAEL S. DARNELL/STARS AND STRIPES

“He was a friend, a peer, a husband,” Sgt. Lucas Schultze, a fellow soldier of the 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, cried as he spoke of the more senior comrade who taught him to lead. “A father, a son and a brother.”
read more here

Jimmie Smith, Homeless Veteran Laid to Rest

update

Hundreds honor homeless vet at Sierra Vista funeral

Hundreds gathered at the Southern Arizona Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery in Sierra Vista to honor the life of a homeless veteran.

Pfc. Jimmie Smith, from Tennessee passed away at the age of 60. He served in the U.S. Army from 1975 to 1977. Smith was discharged from Fort Bliss.

According to officials with the Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services, not much is known about Smith’s background or family.

Dee Foster and Arthur Parson, both Sierra Vista residents, remember Smith as a man with a gentle heart.

Strangers gather to give homeless Arizona veteran proper burial 
The Republic
Cydney Henderson
July 27, 2017

Smith served in the U.S. Army from September 1975 until August 1977 before getting discharged from Fort Bliss in Texas, according to the Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services.

A homeless Arizona Army veteran is going to get the funeral he deserves today, after a call for help on Facebook.

Pfc. Jimmie Smith has no family. Despite bravely serving his country, the 60-year-old died alone.

The Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services is doing its part to make sure the veteran is not alone during his memorial service in Sierra Vista, near Tucson.

The department asked community members to attend Smith’s Thursday morning funeral in place of his family, to give a man who fought for his country a proper send-off.
read more here

Colonel Stood Saluting in Pouring Rain

Soldier’s salute at funeral procession goes viral
WSMV News
Rudy Kalis
July 14, 2017

Col. Jack Usrey got out of his car and saluted a funeral procession on a rainy day in Kentucky. (Photo by Erin Hester/Instagram)

NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV)
A simple gesture of respect became a nationwide viral phenomenon.

That’s what happened on the side of the road in a small town in Kentucky.

A Tennessee National Guard soldier, Col. Jack Usrey, got out of his vehicle and stood at attention and saluting in the pouring rain in Vine Grove, KY.

A passerby was so impressed she stopped and took a picture.

Ask Usrey why he did it, and he will tell you it was just the right thing to do.
read more here

Aubrey Gene Laney, Coast Guard Veteran To Be Laid to Rest

Memphis Funeral Home to bury homeless veteran with military honors
WMC Action News 5
Ashley Sharp
July 12, 2017

(Source: WMC Action News 5)

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) - A homeless veteran who died in March will finally be laid to rest on Thursday at the West Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery.

Aubrey Gene Laney, who served in the United States Coast Guard, passed away with no family members to make his funeral arrangements.

The Memphis Funeral Home and the Dignity Memorial Homeless Veterans Burial Program decided to step in and provide Laney a public memorial service and internment with military honors befitting of a veteran.

Corey Hague, the location manager at Memphis Funeral Home, hopes that the community will come together to attend the service honoring a man who dedicated part of his life to serving the country.
read more here

Marine Vietnam Veteran Wonders Who Is In His Grave?

Vietnam veteran recalls coming back from 'dead'
THE WASHINGTON POST
Saturday, July 8, 2017

“You have to be willing to take it a day at a time. You have to set in your mind that you're going to survive. You have to believe that they are not going to defeat you, that you're going to win.” Ronald Ridgeway

HALLETTSVILLE, Texas — Ronald Ridgeway was “killed” in Vietnam on Feb. 25, 1968.

The 18-year-old Marine Corps private first class fell with a bullet to the shoulder during a savage firefight with the enemy outside Khe Sanh.

Dozens of Marines, from what came to be called “the ghost patrol,” perished there.

At first, Ridgeway was listed as missing in action. Back home in Texas, his old school, Sam Houston High, made an announcement over the intercom.

But his mother, Mildred, had a letter from his commanding officer saying there was little hope. And that August, she received a “deeply regret” telegram from the Marines saying he was dead.

On Sept. 10, he was buried in a national cemetery in St. Louis. A tombstone bearing his name and the names of eight others missing from the battle was erected over the grave. His mother went home with a folded American flag.

But as his comrades and family mourned, Ridgeway sat in harsh North Vietnamese prisons for five years, often in solitary confinement, mentally at war with his captors and fighting for a life that was technically over.

Last month, almost 50 years after his supposed demise, Ridgeway, 68, a retired supervisor with Veterans Affairs, sat in his home here and recounted for the first time in detail one of the most remarkable stories of the Vietnam War.

In the end, of the 26 missing and presumed killed in action on Feb. 25, remains of all but nine were positively identified, according to Pipes and Stubbe.

The unassociated body parts were sent home and placed in two caskets that would be buried beneath a large tombstone bearing the nine names of those unaccounted for, Stubbe said.read more here

Vietnam Veteran Saluted Lonely Hearse Carrying Veteran

Fairfield man salutes solitary veteran on way to cemetery
Daily Republic
By Todd R. Hansen
July 04, 2017


“And I don’t know what made me do what I did next. But I was thinking he was a veteran and alone, and that’s just wrong,” Cobb said.

Vietnam veteran Mike Cobb.

(Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic)

DIXON — For U.S. military veterans, especially for those who served in combat, patriotic markers are not just dates on the calendar.

In fact, Vietnam veteran Mike Cobb, who served in the U.S. Army infantry, much of his time as a tunnel rat, is not likely to be seen at any of the special holiday services.

“I’m not ready to go to those things. There are a couple of friends from Fairfield who died (in Vietnam). I’m not ready,” said Cobb, who was in country in 1969-70.

So a week after Memorial Day, and less than a month before the Fourth of July, Cobb found himself honoring someone who had served his country on a day that had no commemorative significance.

Cobb was returning from Sacramento on June 7 and came upon a solitary hearse on Interstate 80.

“As I passed it, I noticed a coffin with a flag on it, so I knew it was a veteran,” said Cobb, 67, a Texas native who has lived most of his life in Fairfield. “But there was no procession behind it . . . and (the hearse) was going about 65 mph, and that’s just not a funeral.”

So Cobb sped up ahead of the hearse and pulled off at Midway Road, and waited. And when the hearse pulled off, too, stopping at the stop sign, Cobb drew to attention and saluted the veteran en route to his final resting place.

Cobb said the hearse driver sat there for 10 minutes or so before driving on.
read more here

Vietnam Veterans of America honored 19 forgotten veterans

Vietnam Veterans honor forgotten, unclaimed remains with special ceremony at Fort Logan Cemetery

The Denver Channel 
Lance Hernandez 
Jun 23, 2017

DENVER – The Colorado Chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America honored 19 forgotten veterans with a solemn ceremony at Fort Logan National Cemetery.

They were honors that the soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines had earned, but never received.

“Our guiding principal was and is that never again shall one generation of veterans abandon another,” said Lt. Col. David Steiner, USAF (Retired)

Chapter member Jim Topkoff said they discovered that there were literally thousands of unclaimed remains spread around the country that had never been recognized and never been given a proper military funeral.

He said members of Chapter 1071 took on the Honors Burial Program a year and a half ago, because of the way they were treated when they left the military.

read more here

Female Navy Veteran Laid to Rest With Honor

Killeen: Female US Navy veteran with no family laid to rest
KWTX 10 News
By Tianna Jenkins
Jun 06, 2017

(Photo by Tianna Jenkins)

KILLEEN, Texas (KWTX) A service for a U.S. Navy veteran whose family could not be found after her death last month was laid to rest Tuesday in the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery in Killeen.

Karin Law was an E4 petty officer who served in the Navy from 1981 until 1989.

She died on May 4 in her home.

After repeated attempts to find family members failed, Lake Shore Funeral Home in Waco and the Navy Honor Guard stepped into help.
read more here