Homeless vets laid to rest at Fort Jackson

[tdukes]

Saw this earlier today and is probably poor timing due to Skymaster's loss today, but wanted to share.

http://www.thestate.com/news/local/article201833884.html

Noticed the memorial urn.

 

[sawman101]

It does appear to be one of ours. The State Veterans Cemetery at Jackson has worked closely with Skymaster, and keep an inventory of urns on hand. When the cemeteries have an indigent veteran's ashes to bury, the urns are used. Way to go Skymaster Jack! You're a true hero!

 

[Hmerkle]

I kept "passing" this as I have been "catching-up" on my unread posts.
The reason: I knew what an effect it would have on me...

I was certain if a vetern was buried in a donated urn it was likely he or she was homeless.

I do not understand how or why this happens - these people sacraficed a LOT for our country - how is it in a society that seemingly "Takes care of everyone" allows these people, who are responsible for the freedoms we enjoy, to go through life homeless?

 

[KenOfCary]

Hank, I second your thoughts, but only have to add that the project started by our intrepid woodworkers (SkyMaster, Sawman101, Raymond, others I've forgotten to mention) have come to the rescue and provide for a final solution to the problem.

They honor our veterans in their final hours regardless of their circumstances and that is important. It is a tragedy that some pass away alone given the sacrifice they've made for our country. God bless them.

 

[Raymond]

There are more reasons why a veteran ends up homeless than all of us could list. The root cause for the majority of them boil down to the unfair and unscrupulous business practices that target veterans as a quick source of money by banking on the fact the veterans don't know what is truly available for them. The laws and regulations are so complex that it confuses even the administrators of those very programs due to the way our laws are written by the elected officials who really go to great pains to make the laws as cumbersome as possible. If you don't believe me, visit the VA web site and try to follow the links to find all of the information you can about Burial and Memorial Services, there is link after link after link and on some you get the infamous
"500 - Internal server error.[h=3]There is a problem with the resource you are looking for, and it cannot be displayed."[/h]
It's a crying shame our own government can't maintain the web site dedicated to those that gave more than 95% of the elected official have ever even thought about doing.

End of rant!

 

[sawman101]

It indeed is a sad situation when a veteran dies and we learn to late the veteran was homeless. I am very proud of NCWW for getting behind the Burial Urns For Veterans idea. We're always trying to improve the program, and the latest version of the burial urn is shown in the article. The current version was designed so that it would meet specifications for the Columbarium at Arlington National Cemetery. We can thank Jack, Skymaster for developing that design. The urns also came from his shop. Great job Skymaster! We all thank you!:eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap