JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Across the country, the unidentified cremains of thousands of military veterans are sitting in urns.
In Jacksonville, there are 654 unclaimed cremains. The Missing in America project is now sifting through each one to verify whether the deceased is a veteran.
The organization's goal is to give the deceased veterans a military burial in the Jacksonville National Cemetery with the same dignity and respect as their fellow servicemen buried there.
The 654 urns in Jacksonville are kept at the Hardage Giddens funeral home in a private room.
"It got this way through a myriad of things," said Tom O' Berry, assistant state coordinator of the Missing in America Project.
"People moving and from one part of the country and they pass away and nobody knows about it," he added.
O'Berry said his organization of volunteers is in the process of identifying the veterans sitting in those unclaimed urns, through records and death certificate information.
"Some have been sitting there as long as 20 years," he said.
Once they're identified as a veteran, the funeral home is notified and there's an effort to reach family members. O'Berry said if that fails, his organization will bury those who qualify in the National Cemetery.
"They're only a couple of ways you cannot be buried in the national cemetery: if you had a dishonorable discharge or a state and federal capitol record," said O'Berry.
Last year, the MIPA volunteers began searching the unclaimed cremated remains in Jacksonville and already have identified several veterans.
"We identified 12 certain...we're hoping to have as our first burial or interment service at Jacksonville National Cemetery May 26," said O'Berry.
The 26th is Memorial Day.
O'Berry said anyone interested in joining their effort can contact him at oberryvt@hotmail.com or (904) 563-0393.
First Coast News