SLIDELL, La. – You are invited to join us as we honor the lives of U.S. Army CPL Angela Theriot, U.S. Navy CTR Russell Hart Kinsey, and U.S. Air Force Airman Edward Early Bryant at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 14, at our Southeast Louisiana Veterans Cemetery (SELVC).
As President Harry S. Truman once said, “Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude. America will never forget their sacrifices.”
LDVA’s SELVC has arranged for the burials of these unclaimed veterans to occur in their pavilion area where they will be given full military honors. The Patriot Guard Riders, along with members from various Veterans Service Organizations, will be there to pay their final respects.
While the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration does offer no cost burial benefits to qualifying veterans, the veterans family should make funeral or cremation arrangements with a funeral provider or cremation office. Any item or service obtained from a funeral home or cremation office is obtained at the family’s expense.
For this reason, LDVA Secretary Strickland has made it a priority during his Administration to help ensure that all of the men and women who served in our military are honored and remembered. The LDVA has gone above and beyond to facilitate the burials of several qualified veterans, like CPL Theriot, CTR Kinsey, and Airman Bryant, who were indigent, homeless, or without any known survivors.
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, burial benefits available include a gravesite in any of their 135 national cemeteries or the Veterans Cemeteries – States, Territories, and Tribal Governments with available space, opening and closing of the grave, perpetual care, a Government headstone or marker, a burial flag, and a Presidential Memorial Certificate, at no cost to the family.
Some Veterans may also be eligible for Burial Allowances. Cremated remains are buried or inurned in national cemeteries in the same manner and with the same honors as casketed remains.
Burial benefits available for spouses and dependents buried in a national cemetery include burial with the Veteran, perpetual care, and the spouse or dependents name and date of birth and death will be inscribed on the Veteran’s headstone, at no cost to the family. Eligible spouses and dependents may be buried even if they predecease the Veteran.
Many people are expected to attend these three moving ceremonies on Wednesday, Nov. 14, including service men and women from across generations and branches of service, community supporters, and local veterans.
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