Unclaimed Veterans given full military honors through Willamette National Cemetery program

This is especially noteworthy for Veterans who pass away at a VA facility whose remains may not be claimed by family members or friends.

“The sad truth is there are those who honorably served our country who may not have surviving family members who can claim their remains or orchestrate a funeral for their loved one,” said Matthew Schobert, Care Management and Social Work Service Chief for the VA Portland Health Care System.

Schobert said several years ago, his team worked with the VA’s Contracting office to ensure Veterans who pass away at any VA Portland Health Care System facility who weren’t claimed by a family member would receive a dignified funeral and burial with full honors.

Through this contract, the VA Portland Health Care System was able to develop a partnership with Willamette National Cemetery. It also involves local funeral homes as community partners who take possession of the deceased Veteran from the hospital and delivers the cremated remains to Willamette National Cemetery for the dignified burial.

“This partnership truly honors these Veterans, and also lets families who claim their Veteran know about military benefits and memorial services available to them,” Schobert said.

Unclaimed Veterans who pass away at the VA Portland Health Care System hospital in Portland, Ore., or the Community Living Center in Vancouver, Wash., are cremated along with a United States flag, and laid to rest without scheduled services, but since VA policy requires all Veterans laid to rest at a National Cemetery receive some form of military honors, a monthly memorial is held in their honor.

This is where Willamette National Cemetery’s monthly memorial service meets this commitment to Veterans.

The new Survivors Assistance and Memorial Support (SAMS) program provides personalized, supportive services to enhance the Veteran and survivor end-of-life experience while providing VHA one voice for oversight of these efforts.

The program, established by the Under Secretary for Health directed Care Management & Social Work Services (CMSW), ensures high-quality, reliable, consistent, and compassionate care to support Veterans, and their caregivers and survivors, and to ensure Veterans receive a dignified burial.

Each month, Willamette National Cemetery staff leads a ceremony that includes a rifle volley, playing of taps, and folding and presentation of the American flag, followed by the reading of each Veteran’s name, Branch of Service, and War Period, if applicable. As each name is read, a bell is rung.

After all names have been read, anyone present is invited to share a short message of appreciation. The ceremony is open to the public and is regularly attended by local Patriot Guard riders flag line, the 1st Marine Division Chaplain, local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), and American Legion posts. Honors are performed by the onsite Military honor guard, representing the different service branches.

“It has been such a special honor for me to join other VA employees and Veterans at these services to pay a final tribute to the lives and service of our Unclaimed Veterans,” said Kristina Taylor, Decedent Affairs Program Officer for the VA Portland Health Care System. “Knowing that we truly let no Veteran go unrecognized means so much to me both personally and professionally.”

The names that are read during the monthly service are not limited to unclaimed Veterans or those that passed at the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) but includes every Veteran who was buried at Willamette National Cemetery and did not receive military honors.

Taylor, who has over 15 years of experience in the Portland metro area as a death care professional, including both direct care and services, previously served as a Cemetery Administration Specialist at Willamette National Cemetery. She has an Associates’ Degree of Mortuary Science, is a Certified Celebrant, and fully licensed as a funeral director and embalmer in the state of Oregon.

While Taylor’s background is helpful in working with Veterans and their families to guide them through the end-of-life journey and through decedent benefits and resources, her time spent in the U.S. Marine Corps lends perspective to her mission to ensure her fellow service members are honored and properly cared for in death.

“I take comfort knowing that no matter what the rest of my life brings, at the end of it I can be amongst brothers and sisters in arms, and there will be someone there to say goodbye and carry on the watch after me,” Taylor added.

The monthly ceremonies are open to the public, and take place on the fourth Thursday of each month (excluding holidays), from 2:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Willamette National Cemetery is located about 10 miles southeast of the city of Portland, Oregon. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses 269.4 acres straddling the county line between Multnomah and Clackamas Counties.

The address is 11800 SE Mt Scott Blvd, in Happy Valley, Ore. 97086. You can visit the cemetery’s website by going to https://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/willamette.asp