Missing In America Group finds, buries remains of forgotten veterans

The remains of four war veterans are saluted by a military guard during a ceremony with full military honors at the Vermont Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Randolph , Vt., Friday, Nov. 7, 2008. The remains were located by the Missing in America Project , a national nonprofit organization dedicated to identifying and honoring the unclaimed remains of American veterans. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)

Group finds, buries remains of forgotten veterans
The Associated Press
By WILSON RING

RANDOLPH, Vt. (AP) — In World War II, Samuel Mazur was a tail gunner on a B-17 bomber that flew over Europe.

Three decades later, he died of cancer — with no family at his side — at a Veterans Administration hospital in Vermont. His cremated remains were sent to a funeral home, where they were placed on a shelf and forgotten.

"He had an interesting life," said Euclid Farnham, who knew him. "He really did not have anyone."

Until last week.

On Friday, Mazur got full military honors and was laid to rest along with three other forgotten veterans as part of the Missing in America Project, a volunteer organization that seeks to identify and honor the unclaimed remains of American veterans.

There was no family, but there were dozens of leather-clad, motorcycle-riding veterans at the Vermont Veterans' Memorial Cemetery, and a military honor guard.

"The recognition of their service transcends their death, and in places like this cemetery, we will continue to devote ourselves to their cause," retired U.S. Army Col. Joseph Krawczyk said during the ceremony.

In two years, the group's volunteers have visited 592 funeral homes, found 6,327 sets of unclaimed remains, identified 491 of them as belonging to veterans and interred 325, said Bruce Turner, the Vermont coordinator.

The Department of Veterans Affairs supports the effort.

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One of the Chaplains in my group out of Broward County Florida is a memeber of Missing in America as well. When I first heard about this, I was shocked that the remains of so many veterans have just been left on the shelf, unclaimed. We are deeply grateful this group is there working to insure that all veterans are provided with a proper military burial.