Posted on 07/25/2015 6:02:12 PM PDT by pabianice
It does sound like a serious crime. I had never heard about but was reading some old newspapers and found the story.
New York State libraries have a website and you can access newspapers from back to the 1850’s and maybe before. It’s a good resource for genealogical research. I was appalled reading about the cemetery desecration.
Here is the link if anyone is interested in seeing the old newspapers
http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org
Actually the old newspapers are a wealth of information about everyday life, e.g., who hitched up their horses to go into town for the day; who had a quilting bee or apple pealing party; whose relatives were visiting. The newspapers are a great resource.
Depending on your states contribution your grave is paid for as is opening and closing and the headstone. The V.A. provides this. The veterans spouse {one only} is also eligible as are any minor dependents for burial there. In my state for my wife the vault, opening and closing cost about $900. When I pass the cost for me besides the funeral home expense will be $0. The vet is buried no cost. When you consider you can quickly be out $6000 to $10,000 for two plots and burial cost paid to a cemetery alone besides funeral home expenses this is well worth considering.
The veteran and one spouse share one common grave. The first to die is buried about 7-8 ft deep and when the other passes that spouse is placed on top at about 5-6 ft deep. They will also share the same head stone. If one spouse dies and the other is living the dead spouses stone faces forward until the veteran spouse dies. At that point a new headstone is ordered and the veteran's name goes in front and the spouse in back.
Do you know where your DD-214 is? The funeral director will need this to present to the cemetery administrator. For WW2 vets it looks different than the more modern ones. The WW2 era DD-214 is black and a lot smaller in size. You will need it though and family members need to know where to find it.
Most veterans are unaware they have this benefit but most vets do have it. The change in GI Bills back in the 1970's didn't change this part.
One thing to add. If your area has a State Veterans Cemetery this is most likely a state and V.A. jointly funded operation and what I have posted applies.
Reminds me of the story about that scumbag who took control of KIA remains at Dover AFB and dumped them in a landfill for rats to eat them. It hurts to even think about this.
In the case in the article theft of government would be the appropriate charge. These were old headstones which had already been replaced.
He told investigators that part of his duties as a cemetery worker was to drive the old gravestones to a facility where the granite would be crushed before new grave stones arrived.
Now that part to me doesn't sound right. I can understand taking the old stones there but only doing so after new ones arrived and had been set where the old one was then the old ones are to be discarded taken to the grinding center. In other words he took to be discarded head stones. Old procedure V.A. used was simply the workers took a sledge hammer and destroyed them to where identity was not likely then threw them away. That was before recycling though.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.