WASHINGTON COUNTY, Pa. — Two veterans with no known next of kin were laid to rest with full military honors at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies by the Goldsboro-Fabry Funeral Home, Inc. Tuesday.
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office said it exhausted all efforts in contacting the next of kin for World War II Navy veteran Armand Hottner, 87, of Greenfield, Pennsylvania, and Vietnam Air Force veteran John Roberts, 65.
“These two gentlemen have no known next of kin. Nobody to celebrate their life, except for their brothers in the military with them,” said John Fabry, with the Missing in America Project.
The two men received a military burial with full honors thanks to the recently enacted “Dignified Burial and Other Veteran's Benefits Improvement Act of 2012.”
“They are brothers of our brothers and sisters. We didn’t know them personally, (but) we know they earned it,” said Army veteran Larry Stavish.
Stavish said he always wanted to be in the Army Vets Post 103 Honor Guard to help honor other veterans. He said they never turn away a veteran’s funeral, they never charge, and on days such as Tuesday, they are all these men have left.
“I can't say enough about these guys. We go everywhere. Just wherever we are needed and available to go, we will go,” said Stavish.
WPXI
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/XCUXZC2XYZHCRGNNGKFEX6U3LQ.png)
