A planned unaccompanied burial on Tuesday for a Vietnam veteran will be attended by his family after word spread through social media.
Army Capt. Larry Casey will be buried at Baltimore National Cemetery on Tuesday at 11 a.m. with some of his surviving family members in attendance, including his widow.
After the National Cemetery Administration posted on its Twitter account that it would be conducting an unaccompanied veteran burial for Casey, a South Carolina professor replied with the backstory.
According to a May 6 Facebook post, Casey’s cremated remains were discovered among the belongings of a retired Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent. In addition to serving in the Army, Casey also served as a special agent and instructor with ATF.
The man who discovered Casey’s remains had never met him, but he contacted Baltimore National Cemetery about what to do.
The cemetery scheduled a burial with full military honors for Casey, and the man who discovered the veteran’s remains reached out via social media to invite anyone who was interested in honoring Casey so he wouldn’t be buried with no one there.
“While I will be deeply honored to accept his burial flag, I am reaching out and extending the invitation to anyone who may be interested in saying goodbye to this American veteran and hero,” the Facebook post said.
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Within a week of that Facebook post, Casey’s surviving family was located, according to the Baltimore National Cemetery director.
This includes Casey’s widow, who will be attending the burial.
“The family agreed to move forward with the ceremony ... as a veteran committal service with full military honors, and Captain Casey will be interred at Baltimore National Cemetery,” director Mike Brophy told Army Times on Monday.
Several dedicated individuals committed to volunteering to helping veterans provided leads on the family that other efforts didn’t uncover, Brophy said.
”[Casey’s family] thanks all those in the Baltimore area for their willingness to ensure that no veteran ever dies alone as long as they are remembered by the nation they served,” he said.
Charlsy is a Reporter and Engagement Manager for Military Times. Email her at cpanzino@militarytimes.com.
