MARANA, Ariz. - War veterans and members of a unique group, the Southern Arizona Missing in America” project ensures every deceased veteran has a proper burial, gathered to bring closure to our country's fallen heroes.
The project honors 29 homeless, unclaimed or indigent veterans. Paul Marsh, a vet himself says, it’s a heartwarming ceremony.
“They deserve as good of treatment as we can give them as veterans,” he said.
He adds, the 29 heroes are entitled to such a ceremony, specially those whose remains are unclaimed.
“We have veterans that have cremated remains that have been sitting on shelves for years,” Marsh said.
The veteran's names were read during last roll call at the Arizona Veterans' Memorial Cemetery at Marana.
“When you get buried as a veteran in a veterans' cemetery there is no cost. Anywhere else there is,” he said.
Marsh says, this effort is for those who served our country with their whole heart and returned home to heartbreak.
“We do this type of thing twice a year to take good care of our veterans who don't have anybody to take care of them.”
The "Missing in America" project has found more than 16-thousand cremated remains, 3,742 of those were veterans who were finally identified.
The cemetery opened two years ago. It's one of three in the Grand Canyon State that continues to honor our fallen soldiers.
“When we had our groundbreaking, 100 veterans on motorcycles showed up with a half circle behind the event and an American flag on every one of them. That puts tears to my eyes anyway,” he added.
As you can imagine, people close to the vets recovery program will hold true to their mission of finding a burial for unclaimed veterans' remains.
