2 Veterans With No Next Of Kin Buried With Military Honors
BRIDGEWATER (KDKA) -- Two hearses make their way through the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies.
The first bears the body of World War II Navy veteran Armond Hottner. He was 87.
The second carries 65-year-old John Roberts, veteran of a much different war in Vietnam.
Both died on Jan. 9. They'll be buried with military honors by members of the AMVETS post in Hopwood.
Post member Larry Stavish delivers the eulogy.
"One day, John and Armond left home and loved ones to go across the land and sea as ordered, to fulfill that sacred oath."
But there are no loved ones on hand for this final goodbye. An exhaustive search by the Missing in Action Project failed to locate next of kin.
Funeral director and Pennsylvania coordinator John Fabry says more than 60 such veterans have been laid to rest here in the past the past 18 months.
"It's really sad whenever you get that call, and you find out that there's a veteran that passed away. And not only that, he may have no next of kin, and he doesn't have any funds," said Fabry. "And you think how sad it is that he represented our country. He fought for what we are here in America today."
The veterans, and others like them, are eligible for funding under the "Dignified Burial Act" of 2012.
The search for next of kin does not stop with the burial. But for two veterans of two different wars, service to their nation is now complete.
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