Twelve U.S. servicemen whose remains were left unclaimed by family or friends received full military honors on Sunday morning in front of the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall at Camp Mabry in Austin.
Veterans, joined by active military personnel and civilians, prayed for those honored at the ceremony. Keynote speaker, state Rep. José Menéndez, D- San Antonio, spoke solemnly of the service and sacrifice of those who had served their country. Later, the men received a three-volley rifle salute, while a bugle played taps.
The memorial service was held with the assistance of Austin-area members of the DignityMemorial Network and the Missing in America Project. Its goals are to locate, identify, and inter the unclaimed cremated remains of American veterans.
The twelve veterans honored were:
- Capt. James Holver Hook (1903-1984)
- Pfc. Donald George Danylock (1955-1989)
- Staff Sgt. John Sidney Clevlen (1922-1982)
- Pvt. Ernest Joseph Bellot (1936-2004)
- Capt. David B. Douglas (1910-1998)
- James Ferguson Childress (1925-1986)
- 1st Lt. Robert Allen Rach (1924-1996)
- Hospital Corpsman William G. Mayes (1928-2005)
- Cpl. Donald W. Klein (1924-2001)
- Technician Fifth Grade Edgar R. Potratz (1914-1998)
- Spc. Fourth Class Jerry Wiedemeier (1944-2006)
- Spc. Fourth Class Jeffery Alebert Huebner (1959-2003)
View more photos on the KUT Austin Flickr page.
