Veterans Charity Accused of Using Money For Themelves

Charity for veterans' funerals faces federal investigation

Military Times

Geoff Ziezulewicz

October 10, 2018

“Personal purchases” allegedly included tattoo parlor payments, private school tuition for the Walkers’ children, $9,000 at Disney resorts, $5,000 in “food and entertainment expenses” and $7,000 to a law firm representing the couple “in connection with a dispute with the City of Norwood Young America,” according to the affidavit, which Military Times obtained from the U.S. Department of Justice.

To hear Army veteran Troy D. Walker tell it, Dog Tag Furniture’s mission to aid vets began after a service buddy killed himself and the family couldn’t afford a funeral.

The feds are investigating Troy D. Walker, an Army veteran, and his wife for allegedly pocketing proceeds and donations to their organization, Dog Tag Furniture, which raises money for veterans funerals. (Screenshot courtesy KTSP-TV)

The Department of Veterans Affairs can only provide a few hundred dollars, the Minnesota man told “Fox and Friends” on Sept. 23, 2017.

“The body was going to go unclaimed and be put in a baggie,” Walker said.

Walker recalled going into debt to help pay his friend’s funeral costs and then realized no organizations existed to solely help fund veterans' funerals.
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Homeless veteran James Clyde Hutchens Jr., 56 died in shelter

UPDATE

LEXINGTON, SC (FOX Carolina) - Officials in the Midlands have found family members of an Army veteran who died in a Lexington County homeless shelter earlier this month.

This SC veteran died at a homeless shelter. Can you help find his family?
The State
Teddy Kulmala
September 28, 2018

The Lexington County Coroner’s Office needs help locating family for James Clyde Hutchens Jr., an Army veteran who died earlier this month at a shelter for homeless veterans. The Lexington County Coroner’s Office needs help locating family for James Clyde Hutchens Jr., an Army veteran who died earlier this month at a shelter for homeless veterans. Lexington County Coroner's Office

LEXINGTON COUNTY, SC
Coroner’s officials need help locating the family of an Army veteran who died this month at a homeless shelter in Lexington County.

James Clyde Hutchens Jr., 56, died Sept. 13 of natural causes at a shelter for homeless veterans, according to Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher, whose office has been unable to locate any family for the veteran.

Fisher’s office has limited information. She said they believe Hutchens, whose date of birth is Aug. 1, 1962, has some possible ties to family in Spartanburg, but they still have been unable to locate any next of kin.
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Vietnam veteran takes veterans for last ride---in truck hearse

Vietnam vet uses pickup truck to make sure war veterans are never forgotten
ABC Action News 6 Philadelphia
August 26, 2018

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you can't come through here right now, we got a funeral going on. I said I know, I got him in the back," says Elliott.

The boots polished to a high shine, and the rifles and helmets in a fallen soldier tribute, have accompanied many service members on the journey to their final resting place, in the bed of Ron Elliott's truck.

"I transport the casket in here and I deliver them down at the cemeteries," says Elliott.

It's obvious that this isn't just any old pickup truck. The sides of the truck are covered with names.

"They're all Delaware Veterans, who died in each war," Elliott says.

Names from World War II to the Vietnam War.

Ron fought in Vietnam, where he lost many friends. He hasn't forgotten them, and he doesn't want anyone else to forget them either.
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Lloyd Theodore Maxwell, Canadian homeless veteran lonely death

Lloyd Maxwell died alone but not unnoticed
Ottawa Citizen
BRUCE DEACHMAN
August 9, 2018

Lloyd Maxwell’s noon-hour funeral service on Wednesday at Beechwood Cemetery took less than seven minutes, his flag-draped coffin lowered into the ground shortly after Father Jeffrey King sprinkled holy water and poured sand on the casket in the shape of a cross.

Funeral for Lloyd Maxwell, a homeless veteran who lived at the Salvation Army. WAYNE CUDDINGTON / POSTMEDIA

“May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace,” King said. “Amen.”

In the distance, under steel-grey skies, a bugle played The Last Post. It would be nice to think it was playing for Maxwell, who served from 1969 to ‘71 as a reservist with The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada, but that was not the case. Those particular notes and their timing were a coincidence, marking someone else’s passing, in another section of the cemetery.

Lloyd Theodore Maxwell died of natural causes on July 22, homeless but for those he knew in his final handful of years in residence at the Salvation Army Booth Centre shelter in the ByWard Market. He was 65.
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Unclaimed veterans moved from freezer to honor service

Strangers provide military sendoff to veterans unclaimed in death
Michigan Live
By Gus Burns
August 2, 2018

U.S. Airman Second Class Gerald Suttkus, 81, a Detroit native living in Harrison Township, died at home on May 1. He served in the Vietnam War from 1959 until 1965. He later worked as a shipping clerk for a manufacturing company.

Navy Seaman First Class Cyril Brown, 90, of Clinton Township, died Oct. 21, 2017 at Detroit Receiving Hospital. He served during World War II from June 1944 to June 1946.

Thomas Novak, 59, of Warren, died in an area hospital died on April 25. He served as a private first class in the U.S. Army from 1975 to 1976.

Tanya Moutzalias
The Macomb County Council Ritual Team stands in honor of three unclaimed veterans, PV1 Thomas M. Novak (Peacetime), S1 Cyril L. Brown (WWII), A2C Gerald W. Suttkus (Vietnam War), Thursday morning at a memorial service at Harold W. Vick Funeral Home in Mt. Clemens, Aug. 2, 2018. (Tanya Moutzalias | MLive.com)

One survived World War II. Another made it out of Vietnam. The third served his country during peace time.

Most servicemen are sent off with gallant funerals in death, firing line salutes, a trumpet playing "Taps" and U.S. flag pageantry, but it wasn't looking like that would be the case for three Macomb County veterans who died over the last year.

Their bodies instead lay in morgue freezers.
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Unclaimed Veteran James “Jim” Sands family found

Dozens of friends, family bid farewell to once unclaimed Army veteran
Hawaii News Now
Chelsea Davis
Saturday, July 14th 2018

Sands served in the Army from 1962 to 1965 as an Airborne Infantryman, and his friends say he belongs in Hawaii alongside his fellow veterans.

KANEOHE, OAHU (HawaiiNewsNow)
An Army veteran whose body went unclaimed for months has been granted a final resting place at the Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery.

James “Jim” Sands moved to Hawaii from Texas decades ago and made several friends at the beach and at the bars. But when he died last spring — no family members came forward.

After a story about Sands aired on Memorial Day, someone tracked down his sister in Riverside, California.

His sister, Nicki, released his body to the military so he could have a military burial. And on Friday morning, dozens gathered to bid their final farewells.

"He was a great guy. He was a wonderful person. He had a great sense of humor so I've been told," said Chaplain Maj. Raymond Hawkins.

The McPhees, a couple that hadn't seen Sands in about 40 years, were among those who wanted to say goodbye.
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Days before wedding, Camp Pendleton Marine killed in car crash

Sergeant Galvan dies three days before wedding
23 ABC News Bakersfield
Emma Lockhart
Jul 12, 2018

His death happened just three days before his wedding. He leaves behind his fianceé and unborn child.

BAKERSFIELD, CA - It was a day of honor at Hillcrest Memorial Park, where Sergeant George Daniel Galvan was laid to rest Thursday morning.

Friends, family and community members celebrated the life of the 23-year-old Marine from Bakersfield. Galvan died from a car crash on June 30th, 2018 near Camp Pendleton where he was stationed.
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Escorted Veteran's Cremated Remains Stolen

Veteran's remains stolen from vehicle in Wendover
KSL.com
By Jacob Klopfenstein
Posted Jun 11th, 2018

WENDOVER — Authorities are searching for the ashes and remains of a combat veteran that were stolen from a business vehicle at a Wendover motel on Monday.

The remains were stolen from a black Mercedes Benz ECO van belonging to Legacy Estate Management, Wendover Police Department officials said on Facebook. The vehicle was parked at the Quality Inn Motel at 245 E. Wendover Blvd.

Legacy Estate Management helps U.S. veterans and their families after their deaths, police said. The stolen remains were being escorted to the California coast, according to police. Also stolen from the vehicle were some clothing and electronics.

Wendover police are asking for anyone with information about the stolen items to contact them at 435-665-7771.
go here for more

On 06/11/2018, the Wendover Police Department investigated a vehicle burglary at the Quality Inn Motel in Wendover, Utah. The vehicle burglarized was a black Mercedes Benz ecovan with a business logo representing "Legacy Estate Management." 

Items stolen from the vehicle included electronics and clothing. Legacy Estates Management serves veterans and their families after the passing of U.S. War Veterans. A specific item that was stolen from the vehicle was the ashes and remains of a combat veteran who was being escorted to the California coast. 

The victim of this case would like to recover the remains of the deceased. Anyone with information as to the whereabouts of stolen remains are asked to contact the Wendover Police Department. Please share.

Vietnam veteran laid to rest with bottle of scotch

Lucky Bottle Of Scotch Goes To The Grave With Vietnam Veteran
CBS 21
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Sometimes guardian angels appear in the most unlikely of forms.

For John Wayne Chapman II, his was on his flight to fight a war in 1968.

“He met a flight attendant who he ordered a scotch from, and she asked him where he was headed,” says Amy Chapman, Lt. Colonel Chapman’s daughter. “When he shared with her that he was headed to Vietnam, she handed him a bottle of scotch, and she said, ‘This one’s for luck.’ ”

Words Chapman took to heart throughout his time in Vietnam, where the bottle was always close by.

“There was a rocket attack where he was staying,” she says. “When he came up after the attack was over, everything in his hooch had been destroyed, but the bottle of scotch was still sitting, unbroken, on top of his footlocker.”

Amy Chapman remembers the bottle on her father’s dresser throughout her childhood – and the legend that accompanied it.

“He did really believe that that bottle was lucky and was the reason he was still with us.”

So when Lt. Colonel Chapman died last week at the age of 79, his family knew where the bottle should go. He was buried with full military honors – and the scotch in his pocket, still unopened.
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Young widow struggles to have husband buried?

Young Iraq War veteran ineligible for burial in North Carolina state cemetery
KMBZ 98.1 FM
JUNE 09, 2018

"At this point, [Amanda] would like her husband to rest in peace, so she is moving forward with Arlington, because she can't handle the process," Lacey said. "She doesn't have the strength to fight it, or keep living."

(NEW YORK) -- The mother-in-law of an Iraq war veteran is pleading for change in North Carolina after her daughter’s late husband was denied burial in a state cemetery.

Capt. James Christian Gallagher, a third-generation member of the United States armed forces, described by his family as having love for his country that "never wavered," is being held in a morgue, waiting to be interred.

"How can the state of North Carolina turn their back on this. The rejection of allowing CPT Gallagher to be buried in North Carolina State Veterans cemetery," Gallagher’s mother-in-law Wendy Lacey wrote on Facebook.

The post, shared more than 100 times on Facebook, condemns North Carolina for its “unconscionable” decision.

Gallagher, a 2008 West Point graduate, was stationed in Fort Lee, Virginia, with his wife and three daughters, when two weeks ago he suddenly passed away at the age of 31.

Amanda, Gallagher’s wife, decided to move to North Carolina, to be near her family in a time of need.

"When my daughter decided that she needed help, it was the right fit to have her husband buried here," Lacey told ABC News.

Initially, Amanda was told her husband could be buried at the North Carolina state veterans, Sandhill Cemetery, but the funeral home denied the family a plot, citing ineligibility.

A free burial plot is provided at a North Carolina State Veterans Cemetery for state veterans; however, they must meet certain residency requirements. Among those requirements is that the veteran has at the time of death been a legal resident of North Carolina for at least 10 years, according to the North Carolina State Veterans Cemetery Program.
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8 veterans get final salute at Fort Sam

Unclaimed by families, 8 veterans get final salute at Fort Sam
Express News
By Sig Christenson
June 1, 2018

“Eight brothers, from the wars of far-off Asia to the shores of Tripoli. These men from all the ages stood tall for all to see. Today, we call them brothers, for with honor they did serve.” Michael Decker, a decorated Navy veteran of Vietnam

The homecoming was years in the making, in some cases decades, but on Friday, eight veterans were welcomed to their final resting place, the roar of three dozen motorcycles trumpeting their arrival at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.

The cremated remains were out of storage at last, escorted into town by state troopers, San Antonio police and Bexar County sheriff’s deputies after a ride of more than 500 miles across West Texas, to be interred with full military honors.

Veterans usually get such treatment days after their deaths surrounded by family, but not these men. They died with no one to claim them and were placed in the basement of the Potter County Courthouse in Amarillo.

Aviation Electronic Tech 2nd Class Petty Officer Coy Washington Black

Tech Sgt. Dana Dean Milton Jr.

Navy Aviation Recruit George Machoul Aswad II, 58.

Army Pfc. Andrew Benson Bramlett, 61.

Army Pvt. Robert Pete Brunner, 71.

Navy Seaman Everett Earl Criss, 71.

Army Pfc. Don Stewart, 83.

Marine Pfc. Floyd Ray White, 65.

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Help Find Family of Air Force Veteran Margaret Rosa King

Air Force veteran with ties to Hampton Roads dies alone in Texas, push is on to find her family
KPAX 8 News
TODD CORILLO
Posted: May 10, 2018

DENTON, Texas -- A Texas university is trying to find any family members or friends of an Air Force veteran with ties to Hampton Roads who died on their campus last year.

Margaret Rosa King, 67, was found unresponsive near her car on the campus of University of North Texas on September 14, 2017.

She was taken to Texas Presbyterian Hospital in Denton, Texas where she was pronounced dead. Authorities with the Tarrant County medical examiner's office later classified her death as natural as a result of heart disease.

Unfortunately, neither the University nor the medical examiner's office have been able to locate or identify any next of kin.

King began working for UNT Facilities as a custodian in June of 2016, but she has a long list of degrees, several of which were earned in Hampton Roads. On her employment application, she indicated that after retiring from civil service, she enjoyed taking classes as a hobby.

She served in the Air Force from May of 1971 through September of 1974. King's time in Hampton Roads was spent earning an associate's degree in business from Tidewater Community College and a master's degree in gerontology from Norfolk State University.

Additionally, UNT says King had a bachelor's degree in business from Saint Leo University in Florida, an associate's degree in accounting and information technology from Tarrant County Community College, a master's degree in information science from UNT, and a master's degree in computer education from UNT.
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Vietnam Veteran Rudolph Muck III Laid to Rest With Honor

Community holds funeral for 'unclaimed' Vietnam veteran
WROC/CNN
Saturday, April 28th 2018

ROMULUS, NY (WROC/CNN) – The hospital called him "an unclaimed individual." But to many, he was a Vietnam veteran who deserved full military honors at his funeral.

Maria Ramos and her mother Norma had known Rudolph Muck III, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, for three years.

"Me and my mother were his caretakers and we just did favors - groceries; he was very fragile," Ramos said.

Earlier in April, Muck was hospitalized and later died. With no known family, the hospital turned to Ramos.

"They asked me if I wanted to be held responsible and I saw no other answer; I had to do it as a military sister and a human being," Ramos said.
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Deported Gulf War Marine Came Back in Casket

This deported Marine veteran came home the only way he could – in a casket
Fresno Bee
Carmen George
April 20, 2018

REEDLEY
Veteran Lance Cpl. Enrique Salas' flag-draped casket was loaded into a hearse with a Marine Corps seal and two miniature American flags protruding from either window.

Salas finally made it home to the central San Joaquin Valley the only way he could.

The Persian Gulf War veteran, who was deported to Mexico in 2006, was buried with military honors in a Reedley cemetery on Friday beside his younger brother, another fallen Marine.

"My parents gave two of their children to the Marine Corps, and now they've lost both of us," Salas once told the American Civil Liberties Union for a report titled "Discharged, then Discarded: How U.S. veterans are banished by the country they swore to protect."
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Three Homeless veterans buried with dignity in Tennessee

3 homeless veterans buried in East Tennessee Veterans Cemetery
WBIR 10 News
Author: Anslee Daniel
April 11, 2018

Military veterans and community members gathered at the cemetery to honor Sp4 Kenneth Ray Sharp, Pvt. John Louis Sherer and Pvt. Robert Andrew Wilson.

Three Army veterans were laid to rest at the East Tennessee Veterans Cemetery on Wednesday with the help of the Dignity Memorial Homeless Veteran Burial Program.

The program partners with local funeral homes and medical examiners, as well as veterans organizations to provide a burial service for homeless and indigent veterans.
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Spc. Eric Levon Williams laid to rest

SC soldier gunned down at birthday party is memorialized
The State
BY TRACY KIMBALL
April 08, 2018

ROCK HILL
Several hundred mourners gathered Saturday at Gethsemane Church in Rock Hill to lay to rest. Spc. Eric Levon Williams at a party at the former American Legion on Cherry Road. Williams had been in the Army National Guard with a Columbia unit since enlisting after graduating from South Pointe High School in May 2013. Williams, 24, was shot and killed March 31.

He was given full military honors at the service. A bugle played "Taps" as two members of the Army National Guard Honor Guard folded an American flag draped across his casket.
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Fort Logan National Cemetery won't acknowledge proper service?

‘Total Dishonor’: Marine Wife and Cemetery At Odds Over Headstone
CBS Denver
Michale Abeyta
March 29, 2018

“It’s a total dishonor of service,” said Kimberly. “Like he doesn’t matter. Like what he did for our country doesn’t matter.”

DENVER (CBS4) – A widow in Denver who went through the pain of losing her husband to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is now going through the pain of something else.

Kimberly Vigil says her husband’s headstone at Fort Logan National Cemetery is wrong.

Cpl. Elias Vigil served in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

When asked to describe her husband Kimberly said, “Elias was full of life. He was an outdoorsman. He was a family man. He loved serving in the Marines.”

Vigil spent a tour in Kuwait, but like so many who have served, he came home with PTSD.

“He was very silent about it. We talked a little bit when I went with him to therapy, but it was very small sessions,” Kimberly said.

Eventually it was too much. In December of 2017, Vigil died by suicide and left behind Kimberly and four children.

“It was a nightmare,” she said.
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Patriot Guard Riders Honor Service of Wilson Robert Selick

Homeless Veteran Laid to Rest
Arkansas Matters
March 7, 2018

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Arkansas Patriot Guard helped lay to rest a homeless veteran with no known family this morning at the Arkansas State Veteran's Cemetary.

More than 30 Patriot Guard Riders showed up to honor Mr. Wilson Robert Selick, who served in the U.S. Army in the 1960s.

He was the recipient of the Marksmanship medal. Mr. Selick passed away last July but no relatives could be located.
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Busload of Vietnam veterans honored Army National Guard veteran James Wood

About 300 attend funeral for slain Winchester, Tenn., veteran
Times Free Press
Philip J Loenz III
February 19, 2018

WINCHESTER, Tenn. — No one would dispute that paying tribute to a deceased 50-year-old Winchester military veteran is a particularly sad event.

The body of U.S. Army National Guard veteran James Wood lies under the American flag Friday at his funeral service, where more than 300 people showed up after Wood's mother sent out a plea for people to attend because she was unable to do so.

(Photo courtesy Philip Lorenz/Winchester Herald Chronicle)

About 300 people attended the funeral for James Leon Wood on Friday at Winchester's Watson-North Funeral Home.

Most of those attending the service were military veterans from Franklin County and other counties in Middle and Southeast Tennessee, even a busload of Vietnam veterans from Chattanooga. Some of Wood's friends also attended his service.

Many of those who attended Friday's services were answering a call last week from Wood's mother, Bertha Allen, who lives in New Mexico and was unable to attend her son's funeral. Wood was the victim of a homicide committed some time over the last several months, and six people, including his wife and her two adult children, have now been charged in his death.

His body was found in January buried under a concrete slab in the backyard of his own home.

David Michael, who lives in Tullahoma, described Wood as "a good friend and fishing buddy," just before the funeral service got underway.

Michael said he feels sad at the loss of his friend, but "we are celebrating his life, he was a gentle soul."
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Florida Veteran Marine Committed Suicide, California Military Surplus Stepped Up

Oceanside Military Surplus Store Donates Dress Blues to Family of Marine Who Committed Suicide
The Marine's funeral is on Tuesday in Florida
NBC San Diego
By Brie Stimson
Feb 17, 2018

The Marine Foster helped this weekend committed suicide, which hit home for him because one of his cousins who was a Marine, killed himself when Foster was still in high school. “I’ve always remembered him and I remember the heartache that it caused for our family, and unfortunately it’s an epidemic that is going through every branch of the military,” he said.

On Thursday, a customer reached out to Gearhound Surplus, a military surplus and used uniform store, saying the family of a Marine he’d served with needed dress blues to bury him in.

“We stopped everything we were doing here, grabbed all the uniforms, mounted the ribbons for them and sent it straight over to the post office overnight, and it arrived about two hours ago so the Marine will be buried in his uniform on Tuesday,” Joseph Foster, the owner of Gearhound, told NBC 7. “The family was just ecstatic that it arrived on time and that they’re going to honor the Marine how he wanted to be honored.”

The fallen Marine’s “step-sister called just to see if we could have everything and really stressed that the funeral is Tuesday morning and they needed the dress blues right away,” he explained. “When I called her back she was like, ‘how much do I owe you?’ And that’s the biggest relief for us and for them, just saying, ‘no, we’re not taking money from you.”
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