Army News, opinions, editorials, news from Iraq, photos, reports - Army Times

Unclaimed remains of 4 vets to be buried

MANCHESTER, N.H. — The unclaimed remains of four veterans are scheduled to be buried after years of sitting in a cardboard box at a funeral home.

The men will be buried with military honors at the state’s veteran’s cemetery in Boscawen on Friday.

Arthur Phaneuf, owner of Phaneuf Funeral Home, says little is known about the four soldiers whose remains were never claimed.

The remains of John Bissonnette were shipped to New Hampshire from Florida with a note that relatives would contact the home and claim them. But no one ever did.

Bissonnette’s remains sat in a box on a shelf for 34 years.

Phaneuf pieced together some information about the veterans.

Bissonnette was born in Manchester and served in the Army in the 1920s or 30s. He died in Palm Beach, Fla. in 1974.

Robert Caughey was born in New Haven, Conn., and served in the Army during World War II. He died in Manchester in 1989. Efforts to reach his daughter were unsuccessful.

John Davison, of Jamestown, N.Y., served in the Air Force during the Korean War. After his military service, Davison worked as a truck driver. He passed away in 2002, a year after his wife died.

William Mitchell also served in the Korean War. A social worker who knew the Army veteran from St. Petersburg, Fla., said Mitchell had been a professional pianist. Mitchell died in 2005 in Manchester.