Garry Lawrence, the Oro Valley American Legion Post 132’s second vice commander, has a solemn but essential job ahead of him.
On Saturday, April 12, he and several others will escort the remains of several Pima County veterans to their final resting places. With the help of the national organization Missing in America Project, the procession will head from the Marana Mortuary to the Arizona Veterans Cemetery at Marana. There, the veterans’ urns will be placed with a plaque indicating their name and where they served.
Lawrence has a simple reason for doing this: These veterans have no one else.
“The focus of the MIAP is to locate and inter the unclaimed cremated remains of American veterans,” he said.
“There are a lot of veterans who, through one way or another, either have lost contact with their families or they no longer have families. They die and have nothing in their wills that lists (burial wishes).”
Next, the remains are cremated, placed in an urn and stored in a crematorium or vault. As a result, the veterans cannot have a burial with honors. The Missing in America Project and Lawrence change that.
He and the volunteers meet at 7:30 a.m. at Marana Mortuary to pick up the 30 remains. The procession begins at 9 a.m., followed by an honor ceremony.
“We do a flag procession, and we carry the urns from the mortuary out to a hearse,” Lawrence said. “From there, we travel from the mortuary to the cemetery. This is a police-escorted procession.”
At the cemetery, flags are set up and the Oro Valley American Legion Honor Guard plays taps and does a 21-gun salute. The names of each veteran are read, before the urns are carefully put in their resting place. Neither Lawrence nor any of the volunteers knows the stories of those they are helping to bury.
“Really, that’s not our concern so much as it is to honor them because they don’t have anybody there to see them off on one final trip and that’s what we do,” he said.
For Lawrence, the processions — held in April and October — are personal.
“They are our brothers and sisters,” he said. “We are all veterans ourselves… It’s so important to me that we honor these people.”
Lawrence mentioned that he would generally like to recruit more volunteers. Most of those who do attend are affiliated with a veterans’ group, but anyone is welcome to volunteer or observe.
“It’s really sad to think that these individuals have given their lives — they fought for their country and did all this — and now their remains are just left to be stored on some shelf someplace,” Lawrence said.
Missing in America Project Procession and Honor Ceremony
WHEN: Gather at 7:30 a.m., the procession begins at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 12
WHERE: Marana Mortuary and Cemetery, 12146 W. Barnett Road, Marana. The procession ends at the Arizona Veterans Cemetery at Marana, 15950 N. Luckett Road, Marana.
INFO: For information, visit miap.us.
