After five local military veterans died, no one showed up to claim their remains. Their ashes have been in storage for as many as 8 1/2 years at the Clark County medical examiner’s office.
Those veterans got a long-overdue salute Thursday afternoon when military officials and Vancouver Elks Lodge 823 teamed for a memorial ceremony.
The event at the Armed Forces Reserve Center in east Vancouver was a chance to acknowledge their service, even though details of their military careers have been tough to fill in.
They all were honorably discharged, said Elizabeth Johnston, with the Washington Army National Guard who helped organize the service. Beyond that, “it was very hard to find information,” said Johnston, a family assistance specialist.
Overdue Honors
Five veterans, whose remains have been unclaimed for years, were honored Thursday in Vancouver
• Ivan E. Bennett (born July 6, 1945; died Dec. 16, 2008).
• Carl E. Walters (born Dec. 4, 1939; died Nov. 22, 2007).
• Loreing L. Lehmann (born April 30, 1943; died Oct. 9, 2008).
• Robert M. Guentner (born Feb. 23, 1942; died Nov. 28, 2012).
• Harry W. Verrell (born Aug. 3, 1936; died Jan. 8, 2010).
That included information about their families. Ivan E. Bennett, Carl E. Walters, Loreing L. Lehmann, Robert M. Guentner and Harry W. Verrell all died between 2007 and 2012. All were cremated about a month after their deaths; no next of kin showed up at the medical examiner’s office to claim the remains.
“How can that happen?” Johnston said, wondering, during the ceremony. “We don’t know their stories.”
“You can Google them,” said Col. Carl Steele, a National Guard chaplain based at Camp Murray near Tacoma. “Good luck. It’s not there.”
But drawing on their own extensive military backgrounds, Steele and another speaker were pretty sure about a few things.
“We know they enlisted to serve their country,” said Camas resident Robert McFarlin, a retired U.S. Army brigadier general. They swore an oath to protect their country, McFarlin continued.
They went to basic training or boot camp, and no doubt were apprehensive when they got off the bus and were greeted by shouting drill sergeants, McFarlin said.
“They arrived on the bus at a reception center,” Steele said. “Doesn’t that sound great? ‘We’re getting a reception!’ It was not what they expected.”
Each man underwent grueling training to become part of a unit, and they were subject to deployments that might have put them in harm’s way. And we know they answered all those challenges because they were honorably discharged, McFarlin said.
Based on their ages, these men could have served in any conflict from the Vietnam War through Desert Storm, said McFarlin, who spent 30 years on active duty.
Gaps in their records means they can’t be interred in military cemeteries, Johnston said, but there is a final resting place in Cowlitz County for their ashes.
“It’s on a beautiful hill on private property that’s been graciously provided.”
