Linked in Death

On April 14, 2022, seven Veterans were given a proper interment at Fort Logan National Cemetery. Each of these Veterans served their country in wartime and in peacetime. Unfortunately, the cremated remains of each of these Veterans remained in storage at a funeral home in the Denver area for years, as no family members came forward. This situation is not unusual. In 2018, the Veterans Administration (VA) estimated that the remains of between 11,500 and 52,600 veterans may be unclaimed at funeral homes nationwide. This issue is so important that in 2021, the VA Office of Inspector General commissioned a review of VA governance to better ensure that all Veterans are honored with a final resting place, with a dignified burial, as a lasting tribute to their service.[1]

Across the United States, local Veterans organizations and local chapters of the Missing in America Project (www.miap.us) have undertaken the overwhelming but necessary work to properly identify and inter unclaimed Veterans’ remains. In Denver, members of the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), Local 1071 have worked tirelessly to identify and properly inter any unclaimed Veteran remains that are stored at a funeral home or mortuary. Those who work on this effort, known as the Honors Burial Project, embody the VVA’s motto, “Never again shall one generation of Veterans abandon another,” in life or after death. https://www.vva1071.org/honors-burial-project.html

In the spring of 2022, students at the University of Denver worked with the VVA Local 1071 to assist them in their efforts to identify, recover and inter unclaimed Veterans’ remains in the Denver area. As part of their efforts, DU students researched the lives of the seven Veterans interred on April 14, 2022. Student researchers found that in some cases, the remains of veterans went unclaimed for decades (one Veteran passed away in 1999). In many cases, these Veterans were often the last surviving members of their families, thus no relatives were around to make funeral arrangements. In other cases, friends and family members are unaware of the funeral benefit for Veterans: that all who served honorably are entitled to a burial at a National Military Cemetery like Fort Logan. Learning about the plight of unclaimed Veterans’ remains moved the students bring attention to the issue, as evidenced by this eloquent piece by DU history major Angelina Scolio (https://coloradosun.com/2022/05/30/memorial-day-unclaimed-veterans-opinion/). All the students found that Veterans who were unclaimed deserved a proper burial and respect for their service, as evidenced by the biographies below.  

[1] Department of Veteran Affairs, Office of Inspector General. Improvements Needed to Ensure Final Disposition of Unclaimed Veterans’ Remains. Report #19-09592-262, December 15, 2021.

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A Lifelong Learner
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On July 17th, 1939, the Schulte family gained a new member. Named after his father, John “Larry” Schulte was the only child of John W. Schulte and Maria Jacobsen Schulte.[1] The Schulte family was well-established in the community, and frequently referred to as one of the community’s “well known pioneer families.”

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The Honors Student Who Followed in His Father’s Footsteps
The Honors Student Who Followed in His Father’s Footsteps

William Dobrovich was born in Joliet, Illinois in 1935. He was born to Joseph and Mary Dobrovich. His maternal grandparents were first generation immigrants from the Yugoslavian region. Prior to World War I, Yugoslavia was part of the Austrian-Hungary empire, His mother was born in Joliet Illinois in 1905 and died May 1st, 1941, after giving birth to at least 9 children.

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Harvey Thomas Taylor was born on November 14, 1918, in Quinter, Kansas to Isom Ray Taylor & Eva M. Belville, just a few days after the official end of World War I. Harvey was one of seven siblings, with three brothers and three sisters.

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From Vietnam to Colorado
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Anthony Troutner was born on October 23, 1952. He lived in Colorado for the majority of his life. He eventually joined the Army, serving in the Vietnam War and becoming a Specialist Fourth Rank. To do so, he had to complete two years of service and an officer and leadership cadet training course.

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Last Man Standing
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Last Man Standing
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Allen Stephen Braley was born in New Hampshire to Ernest and Laura Braley on October 4, 1930. Allen was the youngest of six children: Lena, Mabel, Mark, Roger, and Ralph. Shortly after Allen’s birth, the Braley family moved from the East coast to the Denver area looking for a new start.

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Southern Service
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Charles Franklin Lowell, a Second Lieutenant during the Korean War, was born on the 3rd of September 1929, to Arthur C. Lowell and Florence C. Peterson in Independence, Missouri. Lowell would have grown up a child of the Great Depression, which hit Jackson County in 1931.

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The Weight of War
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The Weight of War
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Jerry Burton Blodgett was born on June 25, 1951, in Portland, Oregon to Francis Le Roy Blodgett and Silvia Agnes Blodgett. He spent his formative years in Oregon, attending high school in Harrisburg, a small town just north of Eugene, Oregon.

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Esteban Gomez