About 300 people recently came together at Fort Sill National Cemetery to honor unaccompanied veteran Cpl. Charles York and to ensure he was not buried alone.
York was an Oklahoma native and Vietnam veteran who served in both the Marine Corps and Navy. He died last month with no known family members to make his final arrangements or attend his memorial service.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Fort Sill National Cemetery asked residents to attend York’s service so he would not be laid to rest alone. Hundreds answered the call, comprising the largest group to ever attend an unaccompanied veteran at the cemetery.
The memorial service included full military funeral honors, the playing of “Taps,” the presentation of a folded American flag, and bagpipes. Several local media outlets covered York’s service, which lasted about 20 minutes.
The Fort Sill National Cemetery regularly holds memorial services for unaccompanied veterans, former service members whose next of kin is unknown or who have loved ones that cannot attend their service, noted a VA blog post.
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A public administrator, VA medical center, or some other authorized entity oftentimes makes burial arrangements for unaccompanied veterans.
Veterans with honorable service are eligible to be interred in a national cemetery. Cemetery staff is present at every single burial and committal service.
Located in Elgin, the 391-acre Fort Sill National Cemetery was dedicated on Nov. 2, 2001. Since that time, the cemetery has conducted more than 8,000 interments of Veterans and eligible dependents.
Burial in a VA national cemetery is open to all members of the armed forces and Veterans who have met minimum active-duty service requirements, as applicable by law and were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable.
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Members of the reserves who die while on active duty under certain circumstances or who die while on training duty are also eligible for burial, as are service members and former service members who were eligible for retired pay at the time of their death.
Spouses, minor children and, under certain conditions, dependent unmarried adult children are also eligible for burial even if they predecease the Veteran.
For more information, call 800-535-1117 or visit here.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connecttingvets.com.