NO LONGER FORGOTTEN Unclaimed veterans laid to rest with military burial By Lyn Riddle Staff writer lnriddle@greenvillenews Asky like gunmetal hung over Fort Jackson National Cemetery Thursday, clouds so low it looked like rain would break forth at any minute. American flags on tall staffs drooped in the stagnant Columbia humidity. Rain had fallen intermittently most of the morning. Men and women in leather vests covering T-shirts and blue jeans talked quietly. Others were dressed in suits or tops and slacks. Perhaps 200 in all, waiting for a funeral for men they had never met. Six veterans who died alone in Greenville and Richland counties received military honors and were buried among fellow service men and women in the gently sloping grassland. Six South Carolina military veterans whose cremated remains went unclaimed are laid to rest with military honors at Fort Jackson National Cemetery on Thursday. The ceremony took place with the cooperation of the American Legion, the Missing in America Project and the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice. MYKAL MCELDOWNEY/STAFF -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More than 2,000 veterans are buried at Fort Jackson National Cemetery in Columbia. MYKAL MCELDOWNEY/STAFF Before Thursday, their respective county coroners stored their remains in boxes that identified them and listed only the day they were born and the day they died. Greenville County still has the remains of 86 people whose families didn’t want them, couldn’t afford to bury them or couldn’t be found. Jeff Fowler, a deputy coroner, said when he went looking for the veterans’ remains, he discovered the county had 12 more people than they originally thought. Their names hadn’t been recorded on the indigent log. Steve Goulet, who heads the ceremonial detachment at Fort Gordon in Augusta, Ga., saw a story in The Greenville News about the unclaimed remains and contacted the Coroner’s Office to say if any were veterans, the American Legion would bury them. State law was changed last year to enable a military unit to accept remains when a family wouldn’t or couldn’t. On Thursday, Goulet led the procession into the cemetery on his motorcycle, an American flag flying from the back of the bike. Forty-four other riders rode in front and behind Fowler’s county-owned Chevrolet Trailblazer that carried the remains in cypress urns made by juveniles in the custody of the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice. A plaque bearing the name of each man was affixed to each box. A piper played solemnly as an honor guard carried the boxes and folded American flags from the car to a table inside the committal shelter at the edge of the cemetery. Each Marine raised his right arm, slowly, one-Mississippi, two-Mississippi, three-Mississippi, as they were told, to salute each veteran. Paying respects William Chick, commander of the Chapin American Legion, which staged the event, and fellow Legionnaire Bill Lindsay said they were proud to be able to be part of the service. “They were sitting on a shelf in degrading type containers,” said Lindsay, who served in the Marines in the 1960s. He spent 13 months in Vietnam, part of the time flying A4s. Chick served for 23 years in the Air Force in the 1960s and 1970s. Ireland, Germany and what he calls another foreign country, New York. He was a radar operator. Shirley Miles, who worked for the Veterans Administration for 30 years, came to show respect as she had done with so many funerals as part of her job. She said she came in response to an announcement made in her church, Hillcrest Baptist in Elgin, that they needed people to attend Thursday’s funeral. Her husband, an Air Force veteran, died in 2011, a pain so recent she teared up as she spoke about his service. She brought her grandchildren and daughter along. They’re a military family, too. “It’s sad when you have no family members,” she said. “It happens.” Miles was on the committee that planned for the National Cemetery at the edge of Fort Jackson. The fort donated the 585 acres. The road through the base that once was called Wildcat is now the cemetery parking lot. Miles said the cemetery was built because the one in Beaufort is close to full, as is the one in Florence. More than 2,000 veterans are buried at the Columbia cemetery, opened in 2008. It’s so new the main office remains in trailers and the temporary entrance is still the main entrance. Run by the National Cemetery Administration of the Veterans Administration, Fort Jackson National Cemetery’s first phase will have space for 10,000 veterans. Honor the service Thursday’s service was brief — 15 minutes or so — but the theme was as American as the Marine dress blues and Navy full dress whites so much in abundance. Goulet reminded the crowd the men had served a combined 27 years. “These veterans made a commitment to their country,” he said. “They fulfilled their commitment. Through all of us here, we’re going to render the country’s commitment to them.” A member of the Chapin American Legion, where Goulet is second commander, read the poem “The Dash,” written by Linda Ellis and recited at so many funerals. It is about how on grave markers a dash centers the dates of birth and death, but it is much more than punctuation. It is the measure of a life. Not much is known about what made up the dashes in the lives of the Greenville County men: Marvin Neal, Bobby Gray and Lewis LeMaster. Neal, a Marine, served from 1976 until 1980. His neighbors said he had stopped walking his dog two weeks before his body was found in 2008 in the home he rented on Old Bleachery Road. The woman who owned the house at the time has died. Gray served in the Army from 1950 until 1955 during the Korean War. Fowler was able to get his paperwork from the VA, which showed he left the Army almost exactly 58 years ago just across the fence at Fort Jackson. He died of natural causes in his home off Easley Bridge Road. LeMaster served in the Navy, from 1943 until 1946. A World War II era veteran, he likely served stateside. The woman who bought his house in Gower Estates said he manufactured costume jewelry. The belongings of LeMaster and his wife, Edith, were still in the house when Heather Hooks and her husband bought it earlier this year, Hooks said. There were Bibles in just about every drawer and cabinet, so many they gave a Bible away with every item that was purchased from a yard sale, she said. Her neighbors have told her the LeMasters stayed to themselves and even those who had lived next door for three decades knew little about them. When LeMaster had a heart attack, his wife, who had Alzheimer’s, went to a nursing home, Hooks said. Honor, duty Chaplain Emeritus Tom Fincher, an Army retired colonel, stood before a white fence with lattice work at the top, through which the white markers of hundreds of veterans could be seen. A photo of a soldier, whose face couldn’t be identified, was placed on the table with the urns and flags. The chaplain read from scripture before delivering a eulogy that talked of service, honor and duty. “Of these six men, we don’t know of the dignity of their birth or the circumstances of their death,” he said. “We know our brothers for some years walked the same course we did. They were prepared to give their lives in the service of the country. By being here today we say thank you to each one for serving the United States of America.” An honor guard marched to the front, took one flag and unfolded it, moving in quick, sharp gestures. Upon orders, they held the flag open as a gun volley sounded and all veterans stood at attention and saluted. Others placed their hands over their hearts as the piper played “Amazing Grace.” A flag was presented on behalf of “the president and a grateful nation” to representatives of the organizations that had a role in bringing the men home: the Greenville County Coroner’s Office, American Legion and the Department of Juvenile Justice. Margaret Barber, DJJ director, said her agency was pleased to be asked to make the urns. “We spend a lot of time teaching our young people how to give back,” she said. “How to restore, rather than tear down.” Fowler said he was pleased to get the veterans the respect they deserve. “These guys deserve that kind of service,” he said. Fowler said there could be more services upcoming. Not all the reports have been returned from the VA. Cemetery director Gene Linxwiler said this was the busiest week since the cemetery opened. Twenty services in all. But with the expansive property, there will be room for thousands more, at least 150 years worth, he said. On Thursday, for these men, the rain held off. Thursday’s eulogy talked of service, honor and duty. The cypress urns were made by juveniles in the custody of the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice. MYKAL MCELDOWNEY/STAFF Greenville County Deputy Coroner Jeff Fowler receives the folded flag of one of the six South Carolina military veterans who were buried Thursday after their remains went unclaimed for years. MYKAL MCELDOWNEY/STAFF HONORING THEIR SERVICE Watch as the unclaimed remains of six veterans are given a military burial at GreenvilleOnline. Powered by TECNAVIA Copyright (c) 2013 The Greenville News 06/07/2013
Posted on: Fri, 07 Jun 2013 11:46:26 +0000
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