Vietnam Era Veteran, Alone and Homeless in Life, Honored After Death

Homeless Army veteran from St. Tammany laid to rest with full military honors
The Times Picayune
Kim Chatelain
November 14,2014

Staff Sgt. Matthew Buenrostro completes the flag folding ceremony during the memorial tribute to Pfc. Patrick Higgins at the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Cemetery in Slidell, Louisiana on Friday, November 14, 2014. Higgins served during the Vietnam era and was homeless when he died. His fellow veterans and local officials bestowed upon him the Louisiana Veteran's medal and gave the former serviceman a noble burial.
(Photo by Julia Kumari Drapkin, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)

On a cool, lustrous day at the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Cemetery near Slidell, military and civilian dignitaries gathered with pomp and patriotism to pay tribute to the somewhat mysterious life of Patrick Joseph Higgins, an Army veteran whose body was never claimed after his death on June 26, 2011, at age 61.

Because he is believed to have been from St. Tammany Parish and because his family could not be located, Higgins' ashes were eventually turned over to the St. Tammany Parish President's Veteran and Military Affairs Advisory Council, which spearheaded the ceremony.

"Today, you are his family," Ted Krumm, a retired Navy commander and director of the veterans cemetery, told the gathering at the service for Higgins. Members of the Patriot Guard Riders, the Northshore Honor Guard and representatives from several veteran and military organizations were involved in the ceremony.

Higgins was a private first class in the Army during the Vietnam era. He was born on Sept. 11, 1949. Other than that, Krumm said little is known about the Army veteran or his death because his family could not be located. His remains were retained by a local funeral home for many months in hopes of someone claiming them. No one did.

When it was discovered that Higgins had served in the military, various veterans groups got involved, determining that he had been honorably discharged in the 1970s.
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