Flags were at half-staff Saturday as organizers with the Southern Arizona Missing in America Project interred 29 unclaimed or homeless veterans from Pima and Pinal counties.
About 150 people came to pay their respects to those who served and are now secured, with full military honors, in their resting place at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Marana.
“It’s a continuation of the brotherhood that we have from the service, each one of us, even though we’re from a different branch,” said Cary Cartter, a four-year member of the Marine Corps. “We all come together and support each other and especially when it comes to the cremains of veterans.”
The mission of the Missing in America Project is “to locate, identify and inter the unclaimed cremated remains of American veterans through the joint efforts of private, state and federal organizations,” the project’s website says. Now in 30 states, thousands of “forgotten heroes” have been honored.
Volunteers work to locate next of kin, who may have lost contact, by coordinating with funeral homes and veterans associations.
It is this support that has allowed the project to succeed, said Scott Fincher, interim assistant deputy director at the Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services.
“The commitment from the community, the (Missing in America Project), it’s unmatched and, as they mentioned in the service, it’s the right thing to do, so we’re honored to have them in our cemetery,” Fincher said.
The Arizona Scorpions, former military pilots, held a missing-man flyover to salute the veterans as the service began. There was a final roll call for each of the 29 veterans, and a bell was rung for each. While on duty, they represented the Air Force, Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.
Music from the newly dedicated carillon bell tower played as the service came to a close and the veterans’ urns were placed in the columbarium . The tower serves as a memorial to those who served .
Fincher, also a veteran, said it feels like home when he’s around his brothers and sisters who also served .
“To know that my watch is over and the folks that were buried today, their watch is over, but we have soldiers that are going to protect us the way we protected Americans and our allies for many, many years,” Fincher said.
While the project was created in 2007, the first memorial service in Southern Arizona began in 2012. Since then, a total of 3,428 veterans have found resting places around the U.S.
The organization recently celebrated being recognized by the state as a project that “identifies, recovers, and provides honorable burials for indigent and homeless veterans.”
In October, 32 veterans were interred at the cemetery as part of the group’s winter and spring ceremonies.
Contact Star reporter Shaq Davis at 573-4218 or sdavis@tucson.com
