Since 2012, American Legion Post 193 in Chapin has provided escorts and funeral services to unclaimed veterans’ remains.
On Sept. 13, members of American Legion Riders Chapter 193 in Chapin, S.C., were among the 60-plus motorcyclists who escorted previously unclaimed veterans’ remains from Post 193 to the Fort Jackson National Cemetery and then took part in a funeral service that delivered proper military honors to each veteran.
But for well over 10 years, Post 193’s efforts in honoring unclaimed veterans’ remains has gone beyond the escort and funeral attendance. The post also does the research to certify that the remains are honorably discharged veterans eligible for burial in Fort Jackson and has worked with local businesses to provide the urns and nameplates for each veteran.
“It’s a lot more than just the escort,” Post 193 Legionnaire and Legion Rider Thomas Yeoman said. “It’s been since 2012. Back then, a Legionnaire noticed that we had some unclaimed veterans popping up. And he decided to give them an interment at Fort Jackson so that they were not alone. And it evolved into our program at Post 193.”
The project has been spearheaded by Post 193 Adjutant and Legion Rider Steve Goulet; Yeoman serves as his No. 2 man in the operation. “Steve is the one that stirs the drink. He’s the one that makes things happen, one of the people that make things happen in our post,” Yeoman said. “He does so much, and this has been an important part of him since around 2012. It’s a big deal, and he’s run every one of them. It’s became a passion of his, and it’s become a passion of ours.”
Once a quarter, the post gets notices from local coroners that they have unclaimed veterans’ remains. At that point, “We go through all the protocols to make sure that they have been honorably discharged and are allowed to be interred with honors at Fort Jackson. And we have hooked up with one of the funeral homes, Dignity Memorial, who does the cremation at no cost to us for whatever remains they have that are not already cremains.”
Yeoman said Goulet has worked with a local craftsman to build urns, while a local trophy shop provides nameplates and service medallions. Dignity also provides hearses to transport the remains.
Normally, the post handles around four remains each quarter, but Yeoman said a change to the law that required any remains had to be verified as eligible for burial in a national cemetery by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs upped that number this September.
“A bunch of these (remains) come out of the upstate, where they’ve just been in a warehouse,” Yeoman said. “Steve and (the coroners) went through, and I helped a little, to go through the VA and validated that 21 of these were honorably discharged veterans that had either outlived (family), had no next of kin or became estranged from their families. We don’t know, and we don’t care. The bottom line is they’re not going to go to their final formation alone.”
Around 65 motorcycles took part in the Sept. 5 escort to Fort Jackson, where Legion Family members and others, as well as personnel from all of the branches of the U.S. Armed Forces represented by the veterans’ remains, provided a final send-off to the veterans who had served as far back as World War II.
Yeoman also serves as Post 193’s Be the One coordinate. Four times a year, every member receives a phone call from a fellow member to check how he or she is doing. Projects like that are what drive the post.
“It’s not about us. We’re trying to do this for the veteran,” Yeoman said. “And we’re lucky to have the right people leading the way for us.”
- Honor and Remembrance