Unclaimed cremains of 14 veterans interred at National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona

Kye Graves, Arizona Republic
Updated ·3 min read

Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this article contained incorrect information about two veterans. Manuel Benitez was a private first class in the U.S. Army, and Michael Rogers Johnson was a specialist 4 in the U.S. Army.

An intimate crowd of volunteers and members of the public helped lay 14 unclaimed veterans to rest on Wednesday morning at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona in Phoenix.

Through the efforts of the Missing in America Project, a nonprofit 501c3 aimed at locating, identifying and interring unclaimed cremated remains of American veterans, the urns of 14 soldiers, mostly Vietnam War vets, from the Grand Canyon state were finally given a proper burial.

"This is one of the most important things you could ever do," Clyde "Tex" Taylor, U.S. Army veteran and Missing in America Project national vice president, told The Arizona Republic. "Every veteran signed a blank check up to, and including, our lives. One thing we were promised was a dignified and honorable military burial. Sitting on the shelf, they're not receiving it. All we are doing is fulfilling that obligation."

According to Missing in America Project's website, the problem is endemic across the country, as the cremains of unidentified veterans sit atop hospital and funeral home shelves, waiting to be claimed.

Arizona Missing in America Project Chaplain Cary Cartter said during his speech on Wednesday that there were still more than 80,000 military personnel missing in action from each conflict stretching back to World War II.

More than 6,300 veteran cremains have been identified by the Missing in America Project, according to the site, with about 5,980 successfully being interred.

That number grew Wednesday as those honored were taken from a Phoenix funeral home and brought to their final resting place with help from Meldrum Mortuary & Crematory in Mesa as well as the Arizona Patriot Guard Riders, an organization invited by the Missing in America Project to assist in escorting the urns, standing the flag line and diverting any potential protesters.

"We're very proud to be able to participate with the MIAP program; it means a lot," Arizona Patriot Guard Rider Associate State Capt. Tim Gentry said. "Arizona's a very important program; they do many, many of these, and we're very proud to participate with them."

Even under the hot Arizona sun, volunteers, members of the public and honor guard officials stood tall to take in the service and honor the unclaimed through prayer, song, a reading of their names and a traditional honor ceremony featuring taps and flag folding.

"If not for those of you in attendance, their service would've been forgotten, which would've been breaking the promise to those who served in the armed forces," Cartter said following his opening prayer. "While each man or woman if asked would deny they were a hero, each and every veteran is just that. A hero. They may not have served on a battle line, but they served."

At the conclusion of the service, the 14 veterans were placed inside a columbarium, finally at ease.

"They fought for our country, and they deserve this honor," said onlooker Lisa Noles at the ceremony's end. "This is my first one, and it won't be my last one."

Below is a list of those honored Wednesday. Those who recognize one of the veterans as a family member are able to reach out to the Missing in America Project via its website at miap.us.

  • Pvt. Darold Dennis Allen (U.S. Marine Corps, Vietnam)

  • Pfc. Manuel Benitez (U.S. Army, Vietnam)

  • FN David Delucantonio (U.S. Coast Guard, Vietnam)

  • Pvt. Carey Lewis Fowler (U.S. Marine Corps)

  • Pvt. Thomas Phillip Hebert (U.S. Marine Corps, Korea)

  • Sgt. Ronald Wayne Hobbs (U.S. Army, Vietnam)

  • Spc. 4 Michael Rogers Johnson (U.S. Army)

  • Pvt. Wayne Lee Lawrence (U.S. Army)

  • Pvt. David Lee Miller (U.S. Marine Corps, Vietnam)

  • Pvt. Edgar A. Morrison (U.S. Army, Vietnam)

  • SR George Clayton Ogden (U.S. Navy, Vietnam)

  • Sgt. George Henry Pitelka Jr. (U.S. Air Force, Vietnam)

  • Pvt. John William Snell (U.S. Army)

  • Spc. 5 Eugene Arnold Weber Jr. (U.S. Army, Vietnam)

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Unclaimed cremains of 14 veterans interred at Arizona cemetery