Forgotten veterans’ remains buried

November 11, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

RANDOLPH, Vt. (AP) — In World War II, Samuel Mazur was a tail gunner on a B-17 bomber that flew over Europe.

Three decades later, he died of cancer — with no family at his side — at a Veterans Administration hospital in Vermont. His cremated remains were sent to a funeral home, where they were placed on a shelf and forgotten.

On Friday, Mazur got full military honors and was laid to rest along with three other forgotten veterans as part of the Missing in America Project, a volunteer organization that seeks to identify and honor the unclaimed remains of American veterans.

There was no family, but there were dozens of leather-clad, motorcycle-riding veterans at the Vermont Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery, and a military honor guard.

“The recognition of their service transcends their death, and in places like this cemetery, we will continue to devote ourselves to their cause,” retired U.S. Army Col. Joseph Krawczyk said during the ceremony.

In two years, the group’s volunteers have visited 592 funeral homes, found 6,327 sets of unclaimed remains, identified 491 of them as belonging to veterans and interred 325, said Bruce Turner, the Vermont coordinator.

The Department of Veterans Affairs supports the effort.

The remains of Mazur and the three other vets came from Knight Funeral Home in White River Junction, the first Vermont location contacted by Turner, 58, of Lebanon, N.H. Mazur won a Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal, the American Theater Ribbon, the World War II victory medal and the Army of Occupation Medal for service in Germany

And the others found with Mazur:

Ralph G. Hemphill served as a private during World War I.

Julius John Morse served in the Navy in World War II.

Doris Ferriter was an Army second lieutenant in World War II.