Dying Marine Final Wish To Be Buried In Uniform

UPDATE
Marine Gets His Dying Wish The Oklahoma City V-A along with several veterans’ organizations came together to not only honor his final wish but also to pay his funeral expenses and give him an honor guard.

“That he was ready to go and that he was at peace and it was O.K. and he said ‘I don’t want you guys to be sad I want you guys to keep going and keep helping people’,” said Cleary.

Beloved dying Marine had one final wish
Marine requests to be buried with dress uniform, Marine Corps flag
KOCO News
By Rob Hughes
Feb 27, 2015

Loneman wanted his pallbearers to be Marines.

"He said I don't want you guys to be sad, I want you guys to keep going, and keep helping people," said Cleary.

OKLAHOMA CITY —A dying Marine had one final wish. He wanted to be buried in uniform, along with a Marine Corps flag.

"He had a good heart. He had a great sense of humor," said Christine Cleary with the Oklahoma City Veteran's Affairs Medical Center.

Donnie Loneman loved being a Marine. He was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Doctors gave him three weeks to live.

Shortly after that, Loneman moved to Oklahoma City. He was fighting his demons. Christine Cleary with the VA homeless program worked to get Donnie off the streets.

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Pittman calling for federal investigation of Oklahoma VA Medical Center

Pittman calling for federal investigation of Oklahoma VA Medical Center
The Ardmoreite
Posted Mar 08, 2012

In letters to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel and Congressman James Lankford, state Rep. Anastasia A. Pittman has requested a federal investigation of employment practices, alleged civil rights violations and patient care at the Oklahoma City Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The center is in Pittman’s legislative district.
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Help available for veterans with PTSD

Help available for veterans with PTSD
August 31, 2009

DANIEL THOMPSON
Staff Writer
staffwriter1@occc.edu

Educators at OCCC can play a critical role in helping military veterans when they re-enter society through the doorway of higher education, said Rob Braese, a clinical psychologist.

Braese said he works at the Oklahoma City Veterans Administration Hospital at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and one of his specialties is treating veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

“You have a unique role and opportunity to help veterans re-tool their lives.” Braese said to the OCCC staff. “One of the more significant difficulties is readjustment.

“You do not just go into battle. A soldier has to be trained.”

Too often the flip side of the coin is ignored.
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http://www.okc.cc.ok.us/pioneer/Archives/August_31_2009/news4.html