Biking Coast To Coast To Bury Three Brothers

[babylonsister]

Veterans biking to Arlington to bury three unclaimed


On May 20, Vietnam Veterans Walter New and Fred Salanti will begin a journey on their Honda Goldwing Motorcycles to Arlington, Virginia. They won't be alone. As members of the Old Guard Motorcycle Club and joined by hundreds of other bikers across the nation, New and Salanti will escort the cremains of three veterans to their final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery. Although now only ashes, the three will be placed with other heroes who fought for their country throughout history.

Three veterans- three wars. Isaiah Mays, born in 1858 and a Buffalo Soldier in the Indian Wars, was a recipient of the Medal of Honor. He received a pauper's burial at the Arizona State Hospital where he had been wrapped in a sheet and buried in the ground without a casket or headstone for 78 years.

Johnnie Franklin Callahan's ashes remained with his grandson while his family sought, in vain, to have Callahan interred at Arlington. Callahan served in the Navy during World War II and received a Silver Star, the nation's third highest award for combat valor. Callahan picked up a live bomb dropped by a Japanese bomber on the deck of his ship and threw it overboard.

James William Dunn fought in the Vietnam War and like Callahan, earned a Silver Star Medal. As a combat medic, he ignored his own safety repeatedly to help injured troops in the midst of battle. His daughter will lovingly accompany his cremains to Arlington.

Securing the interments at Arlington was the work of the Missing In America Project (MIAP). In about 2006, Salanti became aware that all over the country, unclaimed remains of veterans sat on shelves in crematoriums and mortuaries. Those veterans never made it to the cemetery and he asked himself, "How can we let this happen?"

more...

http://urindependent.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1853&Itemid=99999999

[Historic NY]

1. "Show me the manner in which a nation .......

or a community cares for its dead and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender sympathies of its people, their respect for the laws of the land and their loyalty to high ideals." – Gladstone.

[Suich]

2. Thank goodness for people like Mr. New and Mr. Salanti!

:patriot:

[Quantess]

3. Interesting.