Sep/Oct 2004 Graybeards - KWVA - Korean War Veterans Association
Sep/Oct 2004 Graybeards - KWVA - Korean War Veterans Association
Sep/Oct 2004 Graybeards - KWVA - Korean War Veterans Association
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62<br />
Put Your Affairs In Order—NOW<br />
The Last Detail<br />
This article is reprinted from the May/June<br />
edition of Follow Me, the bimonthly magazine<br />
of the Second Marine Division <strong>Association</strong><br />
(SMDA). It contains information of vital interest<br />
to veterans of every branch of the armed<br />
forces.<br />
The author of the article, Neil Duane,<br />
died a few weeks after it appeared in<br />
Follow Me. It is printed here with the<br />
permission of the SMDA’s managing<br />
editor.<br />
by Neil Duane<br />
I’m sure that all of us who served in<br />
the Second Marine Division are eternally<br />
grateful that we weren’t killed<br />
before our 18th or 19th birthday, as many<br />
of our brothers were on Tarawa, Saipan,<br />
Tinian, in Beirut and even now in Iraq. I<br />
know I am. In fact, many of us are probably<br />
surprised that we lasted this long.<br />
But time is running out for all of us,<br />
especially you WWII guys, and for me as<br />
well. Although I’m much younger (63), I<br />
just got the word that I only have a few<br />
months left (fast moving cancer).<br />
Although not the best news I could have<br />
hoped for, it has given me valuable time<br />
to “put my affairs in order.” I urge you to<br />
do the same. NOW.<br />
Your passing is going to be hard on<br />
your wives and families (believe<br />
me on this), so making the funeral<br />
arrangements now, while you have<br />
the time, is going to be difficult for<br />
them. But, it will be a blessing<br />
when the big day arrives. Since I’ve<br />
just been through this with my wife<br />
Patty, and our daughters, I thought<br />
you would find the following information<br />
useful and start acting on it.<br />
Both the funeral director and the<br />
pastor of our church, who have<br />
presided over many funerals, told<br />
us how extremely rare it was to<br />
have people come in to make the<br />
arrangements before the death, and how<br />
difficult it was for the families to handle<br />
these details in their time of grief. So, I<br />
know I’m not preaching to the choir here.<br />
Typical question: does your wife know<br />
where your honorable discharge certificate<br />
is? Does she even know what a DD214<br />
It’s Better To Make Arrangements While You<br />
Can—While You’re Still Alive!<br />
form is?<br />
Burial in a National Cemetary<br />
You, too, can be buried in a National<br />
Cemetery, with accoutrements galore—<br />
including your wife.<br />
First of all, you’re entitled to free<br />
burial in a national cemetery, providing<br />
you have an Honorable Discharge. (I<br />
chose Bourne National Cemetery on<br />
Cape Cod in my home state of<br />
Massachusetts). See http://www.cem.<br />
va.gov/listcem.htm for locations, or<br />
call your local veteran’s agent or funeral<br />
home. For you dinosaurs who still<br />
don’t use computers, get one of the<br />
grandkids to bring it up for you or call<br />
1-800-827-1000.<br />
In addition to the gravesite, you rate<br />
a flag for the coffin, an engraved headstone<br />
or marker, and a concrete grave<br />
liner. In private cemeteries these costs<br />
can add up. (Arlington National<br />
Cemetery, because of space concerns,<br />
is now limited to active duty deaths,<br />
In the National Cemeteries, there is<br />
also room for your wife in the same<br />
grave, whether or not she precedes<br />
you in death, and her name will join<br />
yours on the marker.<br />
highly decorated combat veterans<br />
(Medal of Honor or Navy Cross),<br />
POWs, etc. but a Purple Heart will get<br />
you in. There are other stipulations as<br />
well. Check web site www.arlingtoncemetery.com/eligib.html<br />
if you really<br />
want to go this route, or call 703-607-<br />
8000.<br />
There is no fee for opening and closing<br />
the grave at a national cemetery as<br />
there is now at many private cemeteries,<br />
I was informed by my friendly<br />
undertaker, so you can save the family<br />
some serious money here as well. You<br />
do have to provide your own coffin or<br />
cremation urn.<br />
If You Want To Be Buried At Sea<br />
If you want to, you can even be buried<br />
at sea from a Navy vessel, but there are<br />
additional rules and regs for this. For<br />
instance they’re not going to send a guided<br />
missile cruiser a hundred miles out just to<br />
slip you over the side. You have to wait on<br />
the Navy’s convenience for a vessel to be<br />
deployed. Of course, your family won’t be<br />
able to attend. But they do have the service<br />
on deck that many of you probably witnessed<br />
after an invasion, and the longitude<br />
and latitude of your burial coordinates, as<br />
well as the flag, will be sent to your family<br />
by the commanding officer of the vessel. If<br />
interested, call the U.S. Navy Mortuary<br />
<strong>Sep</strong>tember - <strong>Oct</strong>ober <strong>2004</strong><br />
The <strong>Graybeards</strong>