The remains of thousands of U.S. veterans have gone unclaimed at funeral homes around the country, according to a recent watchdog report.
The report by the Inspector General for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) said, “in 2018, VA estimated the remains of between 11,500 and 52,600 veterans may be unclaimed at funeral homes nationwide.”
The investigation blamed failures with how the VA operates and pointed to “insufficient outreach to likely custodians of unclaimed veterans” and “inadequate department-level oversight of benefits and services for deceased veterans whose remains are unclaimed.”
“A life of anyone, especially someone that defends freedom, is priceless,” said Angela Lima-Moran, a tourist from Oregon who was visiting the World War II Memorial in Washington D.C. “A dignified death – that is ultimately what should be done.”
“I think every veteran that has served deserves to have a dignified ending to their life in some way shape or form,” said her husband Pat Moran.
In a statement, VA Inspector General Michael Missal said: “VA’s current governance structure does not provide reasonable assurance that the unclaimed remains of veterans receive an appropriate burial. We found that some unclaimed veterans’ remains have been stored indefinitely in locations such as coroners’ offices, law enforcement offices, and funeral homes,” said VA Inspector General Michael J. Missal. “Given their selfless service to our country, all veterans deserve a dignified burial.”
The report calls for the VA to designate an official or program office to focus on the full scope of VA benefits and services for deceased veterans whose remains are unclaimed.
It also says the VA should “coordinate and implement data-sharing agreements with other entities to identify veterans whose remains are unclaimed or not previously included in VA databases.”
In response to the findings, the VA said: “We believe that every eligible Veteran deserves a dignified burial and memorialization to commemorate their service and sacrifice to our nation. VA began taking action regarding improving unclaimed Veteran remains processes before the OIG report. We continue to remedy issues identified in the report, including implementing monitoring mechanisms and training at VA regional offices, deploying a new Memorial Benefits Management System, tracking the disposition of all claimed and unclaimed Veteran remains for deaths occurring under VHA authorized care, and conducting a comprehensive program evaluation of all VA benefits and services for deceased Veterans whose remains are unclaimed.
“We remain committed to ensuring the remains of unclaimed Veterans and other eligible decedents also receive the honor, respect and dignity they deserve. We urge funeral home directors or custodians of unclaimed remains, to please contact the National Cemetery Scheduling Office at 1-800-535-1117 to determine if the decedent is a Veteran and eligible for burial in a VA national cemetery.”