Jan/Feb 2013 - Korean War Veterans Association

The Editor’s Desk ©
Art Sharp
10
Hopefully William G. Santo Did
Not Die In Vain ©
No one should die alone.
Unfortunately, U.S. Army veteran
William G. Santo did. Luckily, there were
people who made sure he was not buried
alone, or in complete anonymity.
Not dying alone was the subject of an
essay I included in one of my books,
Thoughts I Thunk When I Wasn’t Thinking.
I had forgotten about the essay (and the
book, as did most people, since the book
rose immediately to non-best seller lists
everywhere) until I talked to Peter
Orenski, an Associate Member of Ch 11,
Danbury [CT], a couple months ago.
Orenski said, “Read the story of
William Santo’s burial that came up at our
chapter’s meeting last night. It just tugged
at my heart all evening. I thought you
might find a way to have it tug at the
hearts of others around the country to
inspire them to similar gestures—the ultimate
respect to a veteran none of the participants
in the ceremony had ever met.”
The story Orenski mentioned was written
by Ch 11 President Brendan T. Sniffin
regarding the burial service of SP4
William G. Santo. Sniffin wrote:
“I didn’t know William Santo, and I
don’t know what circumstances in his life
caused him to die at age 74 without family
or friends around him. What I do know
is that William served his country in the
United States Army, attained the rank of
SP4, and at one time was named soldier of
the month in his unit. I was told he served
in Korea.
“I am told someone mentioned to
Korean War veteran Ken Post that they
had not seen William in a while; Ken did
some research and found that William had
been found dead and his body lay
unclaimed in the Connecticut state
morgue in Farmington.
“Through the efforts of Ken and
Danbury’s Veterans Advisor Pat Waldron,
they managed to get the remains released
with the help and generosity of Dan
Jowdy of the Jowdy/Kane Funeral Home.
William was laid to rest in the veterans
section of Wooster Cemetery with a full
It is our duty as veterans to make sure that
we find and pay tribute to our deceased
comrades who have completed their hour upon the stage
in complete anonymity and then are heard no more.
Members of Ch 11 pay respects to William G.
Santo
military service on Monday, December 3,
2012. As I looked around at the sizeable
gathering of veterans I was struck by the
fact that none of us knew this man personally.
But we do have a common bond. I
hope we never forget it!”
Now, admittedly, my aforementioned
essay was about a cat. But, Orenski and
Sniffin were talking about a human being.
Yet, it was as if Santo had never existed.
There is no record of his death in newspapers
or on internet sites like legacy.com.
He qualifies for Shakespeare’s terse
description of life in Macbeth, at least the
“walking shadow” part: “Out, out brief
candle. Life is but a poor player, a walking
shadow, that struts and frets its hour upon
the stage and then is heard no more.”
Certainly, Santo strutted and fretted his
hour upon the stage, and then was heard
no more—almost.
What would have happened if Ken Post
had not followed up on the report of
Santo’s death? How long would William
Santo have lain in the morgue until he was
buried inconspicuously in some remote
corner of a nondescript cemetery somewhere
in Connecticut with no one in attendance?
How many other veterans lie in
morgues across the country awaiting discovery,
burial—and recognition?
There are others. Not too long ago I
received a call from a coroner’s office in
California. The caller told me they had an
unclaimed body in their morgue that had
been there for some time. They had a
name and a piece of paper identifying him
as a veteran, but that was all they had. I
directed her to the National Personnel
Records Center in St. Louis for help, and
told her to get back to me if she did not get
the information she needed. She did not,
so I assume she got some help there.
It is our duty as veterans to make sure
that we find and pay tribute to our
deceased comrades who have completed
their hour upon the stage in complete
anonymity and then are heard no more. I
am not suggesting that we visit morgues
across the country and ask administrators
if they have any unidentified veterans in
their facilities. I am suggesting that we
follow the leads of concerned people like
Ken Post, Brendan Sniffin, Peter Orenski,
Pat Waldron, and Dan Jowdy to make sure
that the William Santos of the world
receive in death the recognition for their
military contributions that they did not
receive in life. They earned it. Those of us
who are left behind can provide it.
We may not have to do that for cats, but
we can certainly do it for veterans.
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January - February 2013
The Graybeards