Twenty-eight Civil War veterans have finally been laid to rest. The Associated Press reported that, after spending decades in a Seattle funeral home’s storage area, the cremated remains of many veterans were given a proper burial.
The veterans were in urns that had their names, but no information about their involvement in Civil War. The Missing in America Project still took on the task of using genealogical research to confirm the soldier’s service. After doing so, they gave the veterans a proper burial.
“It’s amazing that they were still there and we found them,” Tom Keating, the organization’s Washington state coordinator, told the outlet. “It’s something long overdue. These people have been waiting a long time for a burial.”
Those burials, most of which took place at Washington’s Tahoma National Cemetery, featured members of the historical 4th U.S. Infantry Regiment who, dressed in Union uniforms, fired musket volleys. The gathered crowd sang “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” during the service. Later, the names of each veteran and their unit were called out. Stories about the soldiers were also shared before they were buried.
“It was something,” Keating said, “just the finality of it all.”
In addition to those buried at Tahoma National Cemetery, other veterans will be laid to rest at Washington State Veterans Cemetery. Meanwhile, a Navy veteran will be buried at sea, and the remains of several more veterans were sent to Maine, Rhode Island, and other places where family connections were found.
“It’s the best thing we can do for a veteran,” Bruce Frail, a former commander-in-chief with the Sons of Union Veterans and state coordinator for Missing In America Project, said. “The feeling that you get when you honor somebody in that way, it’s indescribable.”
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