DAYTON, Ohio — Veterans and civilians stood side by side to honor 10 Ohio veterans whose remains were buried Tuesday with full military honors several months after they were found in a funeral home basement.
Six veterans conducted a rifle salute, taps was played, and the name of each man and his dates of service were read at the ceremony under an overcast sky at Dayton National Cemetery. Some in attendance wiped away tears.
The remains of the men were discovered at a Columbus funeral home by the Ohio chapter of the Missing in America Project. The burial was one of several scheduled this year for the national group, which contacts funeral homes, coroners’ offices and state hospitals to see whether the unclaimed cremated remains they have in storage may belong to a veteran.
Chastity Booth, the Ohio coordinator for the project, spent months arranging the burial to give the Ohio remains a final resting place.
Booth, 33, discovered the remains last year at the Cook & Son-Pallay Funeral Home in Columbus, and they were positively identified in November.
Front Section, Pages 3 on 05/23/2012