FGGAM just received this news release, let us be in prayer: Governor Susana Martinez to Honor Deceased Veterans at Forgotten Heroes Funeral
Santa Fe, NM — Governor Susana Martinez will deliver a eulogy at a special public funeral for 28 New Mexico veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, who will be laid to rest with military funeral honors.
This funeral is conducted as part of New Mexico’s Forgotten Heroes Burial Program, which ensures that all of New Mexico’s honorably discharged veterans are buried with military funeral honors.
On behalf of the people of New Mexico, Governor Martinez will accept a folded American flag at the funeral.
When: 10:30 a.m. Tuesday Oct. 13, 2015
Where: Santa Fe National Cemetery
501 North Guadalupe Street
Santa Fe, NM 87501
28 Bernalillo County Veterans to be Interred at Santa Fe National Cemetery
Vets Identified Through County’s Unclaimed/Indigent Program
Bernalillo County – Twenty-eight veterans from Bernalillo County will be interred at the Santa Fe National Cemetery on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 11 a.m., as part of the New Mexico Forgotten Heroes Burial Program. The Bernalillo County veterans were identified through the county’s Unclaimed/Indigent Cremation Program.
The veterans’ cremains will be escorted from Albuquerque to Santa Fe with a motorcycle escort from the Patriot Guard Riders of New Mexico. The procession will leave Riverside Funeral Home at 8:45 a.m. on Tuesday. Twenty-eight of the riders will carry a placard with the name of one of the veterans being honored.
The gravesite ceremony is part of the New Mexico’s Forgotten Heroes Burial Program, established by the New Mexico Department of Veterans’ Services to provide a military funeral, with an honor guard and flag fold ceremony, for any honorably discharged veteran who upon death goes unclaimed by family members or friends.
“We are pleased to honor our military veterans with the dignified burial they deserve,” says Commission Vice Chair Art De La Cruz. “This Forgotten Heroes Burial Program is a truly collaborative effort where federal, state and county officials work together to make sure these heroes are remembered for their service to our country. I am proud of the fact that Bernalillo County and the New Mexico Department of Veterans’ Services were the first in the nation to collaborate and create a program like this one.”
The members of the Bernalillo County Procurement & Business Services Department have worked diligently to create and continue this very special program and were honored by the National Association of Counties with a 2014 Achievement Award for work on the Forgotten Heroes Burial Program.
Since 2010, Bernalillo County, the New Mexico Department of Veterans’ Services, the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs, the Santa Fe National Cemetery and the rest of the New Mexico counties have worked together to arrange honorable dispositions of unclaimed/indigent deceased veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces.
The Forgotten Heroes Burial Program is the first program in the nation featuring such a partnership between state and local governments and other agencies to care for deceased unclaimed/indigent veterans.
For more information on the county’s Unclaimed/Indigent Cremation Program, go to www.bernco.gov/finance/unclaimed-indigent-cremation-program.aspx
In Memoriam
Branch/Rank Name Years Served Date of Death
USA PVT Kenneth Carnes 10/9/69-5/6/70 1/12/11
USN Unknown Robert Darden 3/29/73-6/27/77 2/21/11
USA SPC4 Brock Parker 6/26/67-6/25/70 3/16/11
USA PFC Joseph Wallheimer 6/29/68-5/4/72 4/12/11
USA PVT Robert Axtell 7/25/72-9/26/74 6/4/11
USN Unknown Michael Stange 5/26/77-2/22/80 9/10/11
USA Unknown Stanly Minge 3/21/67-4/29/69 1/17/12
USN Unknown Keith Goodman 1/4/46-10/31/47 1/18/12
USA SGT Chester Smith 6/7/66-6/6/69 3/1/12
USA SGT David Slygh 7/11/49-9/6/52 3/14/12
USA Unknown Adrian Greene 6/27/57-12/9/59 6/22/12
USA SPC4 Wayne Summers 10/5/66-8-30/68 7/21/12
USN Unknown John Scott 10/1/68-8/18/72 8/24/12
USN SR Eugenia Tatum 2/27/51-3/16/51 1/19/13
USMC Unknown William Perdue 7/5/73-10/18/73 2/22/13
USMC LCpl James Wesenberg 10/1/62-2/3/67 5/22/13
USA Unknown Norman Grady 6/21/70-4/23/75 6/16/13
USAF SrA Arthur Sharkey 12/14/77-12/13/83 7/9/13
USN Lt Gerald Lalley 7/23/59-7/8/62 8/14/13
USA PFC Glenn Loney, Jr. 11/10/65-3/8/68 8/20/13
USA SSG Carl Thompson 9/12/61-7/11/74 11/18/13
USAF Am Bruce Davis 1957-1961 11/20/13
USA Unknown Curtis Wheeler 2/15/55-2/27/57 11/30/13
USA Unknown Harold Chalupa 2/23/68-2/22/71 1/21/14
USAF Capt Charles Smith 8/3/61-10/21/63 3/17/14
USA PVT Arturo Gavilanes 9/13/51-1/12/52 5/3/14
USN Unknown Stanley Boyett 4/7/71-12/23/75 5/6/14
USA PVT Thomas Ricks 6/8/56-11/21/58 6/26/14