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Dignity Memorial Homeless Veterans Burial Program
"WICHITA, Kan. — He had nothing left to his name but his military service.
When the 64-year-old collapsed on the streets of this Midwestern city last month and soon died, he was homeless and alone — one of the 130,000 faceless veterans who go without shelter on any given night in this country.
Instead of being buried in a pauper’s grave — an ending that would have only reinforced his anonymous last years — the Vietnam veteran was again recognized as Army Sgt. Patrick Dunagan and honored with a military funeral.
Dunagan was laid to rest last week as part of a charitable effort called the Dignity Memorial Homeless Veterans Burial Program. Funeral homes in 35 cities work to provide destitute veterans with proper funerals by donating the casket and other services, arranging the military ceremony and coordinating with the Department of Veteran Affairs to provide a headstone and burial at a national cemetery.
Veterans are identified for the program by the local coroner and veterans service manager, who determine whether an unclaimed deceased person served in the military. They use Social Security numbers or prior addresses if known, and sometimes send fingerprints to the FBI, which keeps records of all military personnel.
Two veterans came up with the idea at a luncheon in St. Louis in 2000, and more than 1,250 homeless veterans like Dunagan have been buried through the program."
Dignity Memorial Homeless Veterans Burial Program
"WICHITA, Kan. — He had nothing left to his name but his military service.
When the 64-year-old collapsed on the streets of this Midwestern city last month and soon died, he was homeless and alone — one of the 130,000 faceless veterans who go without shelter on any given night in this country.
Instead of being buried in a pauper’s grave — an ending that would have only reinforced his anonymous last years — the Vietnam veteran was again recognized as Army Sgt. Patrick Dunagan and honored with a military funeral.
Dunagan was laid to rest last week as part of a charitable effort called the Dignity Memorial Homeless Veterans Burial Program. Funeral homes in 35 cities work to provide destitute veterans with proper funerals by donating the casket and other services, arranging the military ceremony and coordinating with the Department of Veteran Affairs to provide a headstone and burial at a national cemetery.
Veterans are identified for the program by the local coroner and veterans service manager, who determine whether an unclaimed deceased person served in the military. They use Social Security numbers or prior addresses if known, and sometimes send fingerprints to the FBI, which keeps records of all military personnel.
Two veterans came up with the idea at a luncheon in St. Louis in 2000, and more than 1,250 homeless veterans like Dunagan have been buried through the program."
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