DALLAS — A crowd of mourners braved a sometimes sub-zero wind chill Thursday morning to pay respects to 21 "unaccompanied" veterans at DFW National Cemetery.
We first told you about the veterans on Tuesday. On average, the cemetery buries 40 veterans a year for whom next of kin cannot be found.
Thursday morning volunteers, including the Patriot Guard Riders, helped carry the 21 urns containing the veterans' individual ashes to Committal Shelter C for a joint burial service that included a gun salute, "Taps" and the reading of each name.
Among those names was an Air Force veteran named Kenneth Floyd. His nephew Calvin Blankenship was sitting in the front row Thursday.
"I actually found out about it early this morning," Blankenship said.
Blankenship's story of his uncle is much like the rest of these 21 souls. They were Air Force, Army, Marine, or Navy veterans who served in Korea or Vietnam or the Persian Gulf. And, through a variety of unfortunate circumstances, they lost touch with their families and died — in some cases alone.
But they were not alone today.
After publicizing the names earlier this week, word spread that these men needed a final honor. The crowd of complete strangers, some shedding tears for men they never met, was one of the biggest the cemetery had seen for a service like this.
"I was amazed by the amount of people that showed up to honor people and veterans that they probably never knew," Blankenship said. "As a veteran myself, it means a lot to know that people and Americans still care."
And then Andrew Kirk stood up to announce he was here for his brother Christopher Kirk, a Navy veteran with mental issues whom he hadn't seen in nearly a decade. As Andrew Kirk clutched a folded American flag to his chest, complete strangers stopped to offer him a handshake and a hug.
The veterans were men who served their country but then disappeared into the troubled social fabric that America can sometimes be.
But Thursday at the cemetery service, strangers who showed up here saw something else.
"Patriotism is still alive and well in America today," said Patriot Guard Rider Gene Clark.
They promised to honor every soul who served.
Here are the names of the 21 veterans buried Thursday:
- Carl Hunt, Army (Vietnam)
- Jon Ulrey, Marine Corps, 1958
- Michael Mattox, Air Force (Vietnam)
- Christopher Kirk, Navy, (Vietnam)
- Jose Mireles, Army, '79-'82
- David Butler, Army (Vietnam)
- Howard Wright, Army (Vietnam)
- David Hocutt, Army (Vietnam)
- Mark Parra, Marine Corps (Vietnam)
- Dennis Baker, Air Force, (Vietnam/Persian Gulf)
- James McCormick, Army (Vietnam)
- John Burford, Army (Vietnam)
- Hal Thomas, Marine Corps (Vietnam)
- Arthur Matts, Army (Korea)
- Kenneth Floyd, Air Force (Korea)
- Scotty Priddy, Army (Vietnam)
- Russell Williams, Army (Vietnam)
- Kenneth Embree, Air Force (Vietnam)
- Rufus Griffin, Army (Vietnam)
- Brian Kirkbride, Army (Vietnam)
- Roger Middleton, Army '76 - '83
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