Unclaimed cremains of 4 veterans buried at state cemetery in Middletown

Jun. 18—MIDDLETOWN — For the first time in two years, the state Department of Veterans Affairs and Connecticut Funeral Directors Association conducted a military ceremony for four veterans' unclaimed cremains Friday at the State Veterans Cemetery.

Members of the South Fire Department stood below a 60-foot American Flag flying high in the breeze held aloft by a ladder truck on the grounds. Others in attendance were members of local and area veterans organizations.

"When someone dies, they actually die two deaths," DVA Commissioner Thomas J. Saadi said. "One, when their last breath leaves their lungs, when their heart ceases to beat, but then a second, more permanent one, when they are forgotten, no longer carried in the hearts of others."

Saadi spoke to officials and local veterans on "hallowed grounds."

"Service to our veterans does not end when a veteran individual passes from their temporal existence on this Earth, but continues each day after," he said.

Those honored were veterans of the U.S. Army, Marine Corps and Navy; and one civilian spouse: Pvt. 1st Class Robert Benson, U.S. Marine Corps, serving 1951-53, who died in August 2008 in New Haven; Cpl. Loren Milton Cubbison Jr., U.S. Army serving 1953-55, who died last February New Haven; Capt. David L. Groher, U.S. Army, serving 1943-46, who died in November 2008 in Bridgeport; and Radarman 3rd Class Morris Meyer, U.S. Navy, serving 1944-46, who died in July 2004 in Bridgeport, and his civilian wife Cornelia Meyer, who died in March 2003 in Bridgeport.

"These departed brothers stepped forward to fight for freedom" in WWII, Korean War and during the Cold War, Saadi added.

"They did so with our flag — that flag and no other flag, held high as a symbol of liberty and freedom — not just for Americans, but literally for hundreds of millions of people across the globe," he explained.

This is the eighth such ceremony since 2009, in conjunction with the Missing in America Project, when the state established new protocols to identify unclaimed remains of honorably discharged U.S. veterans in Connecticut funeral homes.

The goal is to provide these service members with a dignified burial with full military honors.

CDFA President David W. MacDonald said there are various reasons why these individuals weren't buried with military honors, such as their kin and other close family members predeceasing them.

"It's not very common, but it does happen," told those gathered.

Identification, verification and other procedures can take years, he added, "but the outcome is well worth it."

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said the observance "exemplifies and epitomizes the sacred ethos of our military: Leave no one behind, leave no fallen brother or sister behind."

If not for the determination of many people, the lawmaker said, "these brave men might well have been forgotten — invisible — to Connecticut."

Everyone who "serves and deserves the respect for having put on the uniform, regardless of the conflict or branch of service," should be interred with honor, Blumenthal added.

The legislation was inspired by Peter Antioho, of Berlin, who died from glioblastoma after being exposed to burn pits, Blumenthal explained. The U.S. Defense Department used this method to dispose of trash and other toxic waste, the effects of which eventually sickened them with respiratory illnesses and cancers, according to federal government.

The morning's events also included a posthumous presentation of a Connecticut Wartime Service Medal to BG Ralph F. Hedenberg.

Prior to the ceremony, state police and the Connecticut Patriot Guard Riders escorted three CFDA hearses from the DVA Rocky Hill campus to the cemetery.

The U.S. Senate passed a measure Thursday to aid those who suffer from the "invisible wounds of war," Blumenthal said, including from burn pits, toxic chemicals, water contamination at the Camp Lejeune military base, and the effects of radioactivity, which led to skin diseases, cancer and hypertension.

He said these "cruel and brutal" diseases were "for too long, ignored and dismissed."

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