Six Unclaimed Veterans laid to rest at Fort Jackson National Cemetery

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — Six Unclaimed Veterans from four separate military branches were laid to rest at Fort Jackson National Cemetery Friday morning.

Service members are considered unclaimed if they’ve outlived their known relatives and friends — or become estranged from their loved ones.

But other local Veterans and military members are not going to let them be forgotten.

Tom Yeoman is a member of Chapin’s American Legion Post 193.

“Many of them got lost after their service, maybe they had an addiction problem, maybe they just saw things that nobody should see and struggled to deal with it. And because of that, they’re estranged from their family, and so today we are their family. We will not let them stand their last formation alone. It’s important to us. That’s why so many people are here,” says Yeoman.

And it’s not only an important day for all of the \Veterans and military members who attend — it’s an emotional one as well.

“It’s hard to keep tears from flowing every time I come to these. This is not my first time coming, so. In fact I have tears in my eyes right now. So it’s beautiful to see these folks honored and these people come out and honor them. All the riders, all the flags, the ceremony and pomp and circumstance just adds to that honor,” says Commander of the American Legion Post 193 Mark Harvey.

Harvey says he often thinks of his fellow family members and friends who served.

“So I understand from stories and my brothers around us have given me their stories of what they did while in service and how close they were to actually being in that box, and that makes it really hard,” Harvey says.

Yeoman finds it to be a difficult but important day for him as well, saying, “Well it saddens me that they had an issue with their families. Estrangement is always hard, and I weep for that, but knowing that they’re not alone on this day.”

According to Fort Jackson National Cemetery, of the 9,000 soldiers buried there, over 100 are considered unclaimed.