Six veterans will be laid to rest Friday - Will you escort?

SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 09:44:46 -0400

Six veterans, whose remains have sat unclaimed on a shelf at Croxford's Funeral Home, will be interred with full military honors at the Montana State Veterans Cemetery at Fort Harrison in Helena.

"It's something that we owe every veteran. They earned the right, they served their country honorably," said Marty Malone, Montana coordinator for the Missing in America Project. "It's important to do it for the living, as a reminder that we're not going to leave anybody behind. These veterans become part of my family, and when we're doing these ceremonies, I take it personally."

The Missing in America Project initially located 12 unclaimed veterans remains at Croxford's but families came forward and claimed six of them, said Drew Kent, owner of Croxford's.

For the remaining six, three families were found and those families wanted their veterans to be part of Friday's event. For the other three, family members couldn't be found, according to Croxford's.

Three families are expected to attend Friday's event.

On Friday, the six veterans will be honored during a 30-minute ceremony at Croxford's and then be transported to Helena in a classic Cadillac hearse with a funeral escort including local, county and state police and fire agencies as well as Patriot Guard Riders. As many as 400 motorcycles are expected to join the procession.

Those six veterans are:

•Interior Communications Electrician Fireman, ICFN, Henry W. Curry, Navy, served 1964-1966, Vietnam, died April 8, 2013.

•Sgt. Andrew A. Larson, Army (Ret.), 1943-1966, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, died Aug. 22, 1996.

•Cpl. Mary Joan Peet (Cox), Army, 1943-1945, WWII, died Nov. 1, 2001.

•Pvt. Thomas J. Rice, Army, 1972, Vietnam, died April 26, 2006.

•Cpl. Richard L. Robinson, Army, 1950-1952, Korea, died Feb. 24, 2011.

•Staff Sgt. Melvin H. Tedrick, Air Force (Ret.), 1950-1954 and 1958-1974, Korea and Vietnam, died Nov. 28, 2001.

Kent said they will seat about 300 people inside for the ceremony and open the lawn to those who want to pay respects. A big-screen television and sound system will be set up so they can watch, Kent said.

The public is invited to "pay these veterans the honor that they earned," Kent said. "It's going to be quite the procession."

The Yellowstone Wood Turners Club made and donated urns for the six veterans and the Batesville Casket Company donated medallions for each urn.

"They are just sitting back on a shelf at a funeral home," Kent said. "It's important they have a place to go."

Malone, a Navy veteran, said he researches military records to ensure a veteran is eligible for military honors. The Department of Veterans Affairs pays for the military funerals as a benefit earned by their service, Malone said.

Friday's event will be the fourth internment of unclaimed veterans remains in Montana, Malone said. The first was in 2010. Nationally, the project started locating and interring unclaimed veterans remains in 2006.

About 145 veterans remains have been located, and 25 have already been interred, he said. The rest are being researched to find families and military records. Two, other than those at Croxford's, claimed their veterans' remains.

"That's always our first choice to find family and reunite them," Malone said.

Malone said he relies on volunteers to contact funeral homes in their area and in Great Falls, it was Rick English who found the 12 at Croxford's. English is a member of the Patriot Guard and a veteran.

Once they located some veterans remains at Croxford's, Malone said they did a full inventory since some veterans dependents are also eligible for the funeral benefit.

Malone said Gov. Steve Bullock has authorized the flag at Overlook Park to be flown at half-staff Friday and that members of the public are invited to line the procession route to pay respects to the six veterans.

Want to go?

Ceremony:

Time: 12:30 p.m.

When: Friday

Where: Croxford's Funeral Home and Crematory, 1307 Central Ave.

Traffic/parking: Central Avenue will be closed in front of Croxford's. Parking will be available in the First Presbyterian Church parking lot near the Montana Federal Credit Union or at Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art

Escort Route:

Departure: 1 p.m. from Croxford's

East on Central to

South on 14th to

West on 10th to

I-15 South

Helena Route:

I-15 South to Lincoln, Exit 200

to Green Meadow

to Custer

to Henderson

to Euclid

to Williams

to Fort Harrison

Internment ceremony: 3 p.m.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 4 at 2015 9:46 AM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 09:46:08 -0400

I'm glad to see these vets be honored.

I wish I could escort. A motorcycle escort has to be, by far, one of the coolest ways to be escorted.

It saddens me that they were left unclaimed. I wish there were family who could have ensured their remains could have been laid to rest properly.

Response by CPO Joseph Grant made Jun 4 at 2015 9:51 AM

CPO Joseph Grant — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 09:51:11 -0400

I truly wish that I could. May God bless them all. I'm reminded of a saying that a man dies two deaths; The first is when his body actually dies and the second is when he is forgotten.

Response by LTC John Shaw made Jun 4 at 2015 9:52 AM

LTC John Shaw — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 09:52:19 -0400

SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. Thank you for organizing the event to honor our fallen.

Response by PO1 John Miller made Jun 4 at 2015 10:34 AM

PO1 John Miller — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 10:34:59 -0400

I would love to go an an out of state PGR mission one of these years. I did have the honor of standing a flag line for a deceased veteran yesterday with my local chapter of PGR, Southern Arizona.

Response by MSG Brad Sand made Jun 4 at 2015 11:40 AM

MSG Brad Sand — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 11:40:43 -0400

I would love to go...but no where near Montana...I think I will have a moment of silence tomorrow at 13:30 Central Standard Time in their honor.

Response by SGM Erik Marquez made Jun 4 at 2015 11:53 AM

SGM Erik Marquez — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 11:53:59 -0400

There is no way I can get there in time, nor find anyone to cover my classes .. Id be proud to do it, just not feasible.