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FROM "SHELF PEOPLE" TO HONORED VETERANS --

It's a grim but little-known fact: Funeral homes across

the nation have possession of cremated remains

of veterans no loved one ever claimed.

The cremated remains of four veterans line a table at Phaneuf Funeral Home & Crematorium in Manchester. (photo: DAVID LANE)

For more about reclaiming the remains of forgotten veterans, use the VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=cremains&op=and

Story here... http://www.unionleader.com/article.
aspx?headline=From+%27shelf+people%27+to+hon
ored+vets&articleId=ebeda860-aa50-4
3c7-802e-c8159e45a3fe

Story below:

-------------------------

From 'shelf people' to honored vets

By SHAWNE K. WICKHAM
New Hampshire Sunday News Staff

As young men, they served their country honorably, in wartime and in peace.

But they died alone and forgotten -- no honor guard, no folded flag, no playing of Taps to mark their passing.

Now, thanks to the efforts of a Manchester funeral director and the director of the state veterans cemetery, that wrong is about to be set right.

This Friday, a military burial will be held at the New Hampshire State Veterans Cemetery in Boscawen for four servicemen whose cremated remains had been unclaimed for years.

The men are: John A. "Jean" Bissonnette, Robert A. Caughey, John E. Davison and William J. "Jack" Mitchell.

The four are what funeral directors call "shelf people."

It's a grim but little-known fact: Funeral homes across the state have possession of cremated remains [ cremains ] no loved one ever claimed.

"There's no family or friends or anyone to step forward. We just sort of hold onto them," explained Arthur "Buddy" Phaneuf, owner of Phaneuf Funeral Homes & Crematorium in Manchester.

It was a chance conversation a few months back between Phaneuf and Roger Desjardins, director of the veterans cemetery, that led to the extraordinary ceremony taking place this Friday.

Phaneuf had mentioned his funeral home's ongoing efforts to track down relatives of its "shelf people" to Desjardins, who asked whether any of them might have been veterans.

"Let me help you. We can give them a decent interment here," Desjardins offered.

It took months of research into military records, but the two men were able to prove that four of Phaneuf's "shelf people" were honorably discharged veterans, eligible for free burial in the state veterans cemetery. In the case of John Bissonnette, his remains had been at Phaneuf's for 34 years.

"It's really heartwarming to see that we've at last found a home for these comrades," Desjardins said.

The four men will be buried with full military honors, with taps, a flag-folding ceremony, perhaps even a 21-gun salute if Desjardins can line it up. Representatives of veterans organizations will accept the folded flags on behalf of each man's family.

"We're going to have a nice little ceremony," Desjardins said.

The Rev. Gary Rolph, chaplain for the V.A. Medical Center in Manchester, will offer prayers, and military honor guards from the Army and Air Force will be on hand.

There seems to be a shared sense of mission around honoring these veterans who died with no one to grieve their passing, or even receive the flags at their funerals.

Master Sgt. Dana Moore from the New Hampshire Military Forces Honor Guard in Franklin said he feels a special sense of obligation to honor the men. "It's the least we can do," he said.

"It's better late than never."

Phaneuf Funeral Homes donated four burial urns, inscribed with the insignia of each veteran's branch of service. "It's just the right thing to do," Phaneuf said.

Desjardins is hoping for a respectable crowd for Friday's 2 p.m. ceremony, which is open to the public. "I just think we need to pay our respects to these guys," he said. "They're not forgotten by us, that's for sure."

He also hopes this will not be the end of the story; he knows there are more veterans out there whose remains are unclaimed. "I'm hoping these local veterans organizations will knock on the doors of their local funeral homes," he said.

And Phaneuf said he's willing to help other funeral directors do the research to find out whether any of their own "shelf people" were veterans and are entitled to burial at the Boscawen cemetery.

Phaneuf said his funeral home used to have more than 100 "shelf people;" the home has managed to track down relatives for about half of those in recent years, but about 50 still remain.

In researching potential veterans, Phaneuf managed to get a lead on a possible relative of a fifth man whose cremated remains have been at his funeral home for more than 15 years.

There are many reasons folks' remains end up unclaimed, Phaneuf said. Some died homeless; others had no living relatives; and some were simply abandoned by their families.

Phaneuf said the law allows funeral homes to scatter or otherwise "appropriately" dispose of unclaimed cremated remains after a certain period of time. But he said he prefers to hold onto them, just in case.

"It's not like they take up a huge amount of room," he said. "It's not like they're really bothering anyone."

And once or twice a year, Phaneuf gets a call, often from someone doing family genealogical research, looking for one of his "shelf people."

"Every once in a while someone pops up," he said. "It's just nice to see a smile on their face -- 'We've had your aunt here for 30 years' -- and it's a little family reunion."

-------------------------

posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org

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