CONNERS TO ATTEND INTERMENT CEREMONY FOR CREMAINS OF UNCLAIMED WW I AND WW II VETERANS

CONNERS TO ATTEND INTERMENT CEREMONY FOR CREMAINS OF UNCLAIMED WW I AND WW II VETERANS

(WRIGHTSTOWN) – Assemblyman Jack Conners on Friday will be among those attending a ceremony to inter the unclaimed cremains of a World War I and a World War II veteran in the state’s veterans’ cemetery.

“It’s vitally important that we do all we can to ensure that fallen service men and women are honorably received,” said Conners (D-Burlington), chairman of the Assembly Veterans and Military Affairs Committee. “Keeping faith to these veterans is our duty as Americans. Those who have sacrificed and served to protect our freedom deserve a proper farewell.”

Conners sponsored legislation signed into law earlier this year to give veterans’ organizations the right to receive the cremains of a veteran that have not been claimed by a relative or friend.

The ceremony at the Brigadier General William C. Doyle Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery will inter the cremains of a World War I veteran and a World War II veteran that have gone unclaimed at a Bergen County funeral home.

The interment ceremony will take place at 1:30 p.m. and feature a eulogy and a 21-gun salute. It is being hosted by the New Jersey Mission of Honor for Cremains of American Veterans.

Scheduled to be interred are Fred Dappert, a World War I U.S. Army veteran, and Richard Mascolo, a World War II U.S. Army veteran. The interment will follow a procession from the Volk Leber Funeral Home in Teaneck to the cemetery.

“It is shocking to think that veterans who have served this country now lie forgotten, but sadly that is the case,” Conners said. “We must ensure that the brave people who have protected the freedoms of our nation are treated with dignity and respect.”

Conners’ measure (A-2613) first requires a diligent effort be made to identify, locate and notify a relative or friend of the deceased. The cremains of any veteran that have not been claimed within a year will then be sent to the Brigadier General William C. Doyle Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery for a veterans organization to provide proper, expedited burials befitting the servicemen and women who served this nation and state during peace and war.

“I want to especially thank the New Jersey Mission of Honor for Cremains of American Veterans and Al Lucente, the group’s Bergen County chairman, for their fine efforts,” Conners said. “Their commitment to our veterans is an example to us all.”

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