AmericanVeteran
No Next Of Kin
Burial / Information
This page was created on January
18, 2019 by Jeff Doc Dentice
to provide information about
burials of our veterans with no next of kin.
To Doc Dentice
Thank You for posting
the info about the burial of the unknown Vet in Union Grove.
This was an experience
in itself. I know there will be more.
The information you are
providing on this page is very good.
Thanks for always being
there for our veterans for the past 38 years.
Tim Baranzyk
Wisconsin Vietnam Vets
Chapter One
Greendale, WI. Legion
Post 416
Indigent
Veterans and Unclaimed Remains
Reimbursement may be available for indigent Veterans and unclaimed
remains.
Indigent Veterans are those who do not enough resources available
in their estate to cover the
burial and funeral expenses when they pass away. Unclaimed remains
occur when Veterans pass away
and are not claimed by relatives, friends, and/or a legal representative.
The Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA) National Cemetery Administration (NCA) values its partnership with
you to honor
Veterans with no known next
of kin and insufficient financial resources with dignified burial in VA
national and VA-grant funded
State and Tribal Veterans cemeteries.
We could not accomplish this without your efforts. For that reason, we
are sending you
this message so that you are
aware of the revised 2019 reimbursements to ensure that unclaimed Veterans
without financial
resources may be honored with
burial benefits earned through service to our Nation.
VA recently revised annual reimbursement
allowances. The maximum allowable reimbursement payable in calendar year
2019 for qualifying interments
is $2,681 for a casket and $162 for an urn. Please see the Casket/Urn Reimbursement
for
Unclaimed Veterans Remains
Fact Sheet which explains the requirements and procedures for obtaining
the reimbursement.
Applicants must submit a VA
Form 40-10088 Reimbursement of Casket/Urn
Additional resources are available
to assist you with funeral and transportation expenses for unclaimed Veterans
remains when
there are insufficient resources.
Please see this Unclaimed
Veterans Remains Fact Sheet
Thank you for your continued
support in providing honorable and dignified burials for unclaimed Veterans
without sufficient financial resources.
Should you have additional
questions regarding the claim forms, please contact us using our
Inquiry
Routing & Information System so we can track inquiries and respond
promptly.
Here Is One Example Of A No Next Of Kin Burial In
S/E Wisconsin
A veteran's remains were taken to the Wisconsin
Union Grove Veterans Cemetery for burial with honors.
He was from Milwaukee County, died in a group
home in Waukesha County - no family, no friends....
Working with Waukesha County Medical Examiner's
Office, Milwaukee County Corporation Counsel, a
funeral home in Hales Corners, and others, they
were able to determine his veterans status, get his body
cremated, and the military funeral honors and
internment that he deserved, as an American veteran.
At the WI. Union Grove Veterans Cemetery, they
have a group of veterans & citizens who are on call.
They attend burial ceremonies when there is no
next of kin, so that the veteran will never be buried alone.
Many Thanks to the local veterans providing the
military honor guards, and the patriotic citizens who attend those ceremonies.
Please keep in mind that some veterans are also buried at local cemeterys,
but no one knew they were a veteran.
Many foks have visited cemeterys and saw a grave, and wondered if maybe
that person may have been a veteran.
They have searched on their own, and asked for a furthur review, and
in many cases, it proved to be correct.
Cemeterys in that situation may be provided by the VA, with a headstone
or marker for that veterans grave.
In rare cases, the veteran would be disinterred, and buried with honors
at a veterans cemetery.
Veterans that pass away, at a VA hospital or Vets home, group homes,
or homeless on the streets, or at their own residence.
If they have no family members, or no one in the family who will claim
that veteran, then the No Next Of Kin process begins.
If a veteran passes away at a VA hospital or veterans home, and no one
claims him/her as a family member, the staff will work with the
state or national cemeterys, to ensure that there is a plot or urn
provided, and military funeral honors for that veteran.
Funeral directors will also call the morgue, or vice versa, and they
in turn will contact the nearest veterans cemetery, and
ask them to check to see if that person was a veteran. Many times they
will contact a local County Vets Service Officer for help.
The veterans cemetery staff will check the records, and if that person
is a veteran, they in turn will contact
the local area veterans organizations who do funeral honors, to have
them provide a military honor guard.
That veteran will be provided a burial plot at that veterans
cemetery.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WDVA / Legion to Help Bury Indigent Veterans
(WDVA) and the American Legion Wisconsin announe effort to ensure that
military veterans receive the proper burial they deserve.
To remedy a situation where a veteran may pass away without a next-of-kin
claiming them or without the funding to hold a funeral for them.
They will reach out to more than 450 funeral service providers in Wisconsin
to identify the remains
of deceased veterans who may be potentially eligible for a military
burial.
"Not all those who have served our nation honorably have been afforded
their full honors.
Of the many thousands of brave men and women who served our nation
from WorldWar II
to the present day, some will pass on without a next-of-kin to arrange
their funerals or without
enough money to cover the costs associated with burial. When these
Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and
Coast Guardsman serve our country, the very least we owe them is a
dignified burial and final salute."
When a veteran is located who died without a next-of-kin or without
enough funds to cover burial, the American
Legion has created a restricted fund to assist with burial costs to
ensure the veteran receives the dignified
memorial service he or she deserves. The WDVA operates three State
Veterans Cemeteries located in
Union Grove, King and Spooner which may be used as a final resting
place for these veterans.
As with any other veteran, the American Legion will also perform honors
at the funeral – a final rifle volley,
playing of 'Taps,' and folding the U.S. flag.
The WDVA will also assist in coordinating Military Funeral Honors throughout
the state.
Funeral service providers and cemeteries are asked to contact the American
Legion – Department of
Wisconsin at 608-745-1090 for further details on providing information
about the deceased in order to make a
determination of their veteran status
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
