Later this month, the cremated remains of four veterans whose bodies were unclaimed when they died will be buried at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies near the border of Washington and Allegheny counties. This is happening due to the efforts of volunteers who are working to make sure veterans receive final rites that highlight their service and accomplishments.

This is a story of local and regional interest, of course, but it’s also part of a larger national story. Thousands of bodies go unclaimed every year in the United States – some estimates place it as high as 3% of all deaths, and that would put it at about 100,000 deaths every year.

And many of those bodies are the remains of U.S. veterans.

There are many reasons bodies go unclaimed, but primary among them are poverty, estrangement from family and simple isolation. These problems can sometimes be compounded for veterans, who can carry physical and emotional scars from being in combat.

Linda Smith, who is with the Missing in America project, a nonprofit organization that seeks to locate and inter the bodies of unclaimed veterans, told The Washington Post in 2021, “They’re estranged from their family. They die alone. They commit suicide. They don’t have anyone to mourn them. That’s what we do. The number is huge. It’s really sad.”

In fact, a quick internet search found that last year the cremated remains of five military veterans were buried at a military cemetery in Southwestern Michigan, and 15 veterans whose cremated remains were in a Westmoreland County forensics lab, some dating back to the 1990s, were finally laid to rest. The number is likely to increase in the years ahead with veterans of the Vietnam War now in their 70s and 80s.

There is no simple, silver-bullet solution to this problem. The inspector general of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs did find in a 2021 report that the department’s oversight of benefits for veterans, no matter their economic circumstances, had frequently been weak. Veterans need to be reminded that they are entitled to some burial benefits if they or their families have not already made arrangements.

It’s profoundly sad when anyone dies alone, and it’s particularly sad when a veteran dies alone. Making sure they receive a proper burial is one of the best ways to repay them for their service.

— Uniontown Herald-Standard via AP