Sad to believe that some vets die and there is no one there to claim their bodies. But in Utah, at least, they will be honored. From the Associated Press:
SALT LAKE CITY — Fifteen veterans who died years after their service and whose remains haven’t been claimed will be formally honored with a mass funeral with full military honors.
The services are being organized by the Missing in America Project and are set for Aug. 15, at Utah Veterans Memorial Park in Riverton.
Project officials say it’s part of a national initiative to locate unburied or unclaimed cremated remains of veterans around the country and provide military burials.
The Project says in a press release that these 15 former veterans died between 2008 and 2010 and their remains have been kept unclaimed at the Deseret Mortuary in Salt Lake City.
The organization says the veterans served stints in the various branches of the military from the 1950s through the 1970s.