Local Veterans Finally Laid To Rest During Moving Ceremony
CECIL TOWNSHIP (KDKA) -- For the past few years, the unclaimed remains of 26 veterans have been waiting to be buried; and on Thursday, they were finally laid to rest at the Cemetery of the Alleghenies.
It's all thanks to the joint effort of the Missing in America Project and the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office.
They served both during peace time and a number of wars, from Vietnam to Korea and World War II. Most died after 2010; however, two of those in Thursday's ceremony died years earlier.
"My mother was 90-years-old when she was summoned," said Carol Scagline, of Elizabeth, who laid her uncle to rest. "He had no wife or children."
The nieces of World War II veteran Michael Myor, of Jefferson Hills, got to finally see their uncle receive the final resting place their mother would have wanted for her brother.
"My mother would be honored. He would be honored," said Scagline.
For others, the ceremony was about honoring a family member they never knew, but knowing now that he's getting the recognition that's so justly deserved.
"It was a great ceremony. I'm just glad that he was put to rest properly," said Men Tchas, of his great grandfather.
The cremations were done by the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science.
Students from the institute accepted the flags for the veterans who didn't have family members on hand for the ceremony, which brought closure to families that waited a long time for this moment.
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