Dozens attend funeral for veterans with no known family

CHESTER COUNTY, Pa - They're true American heroes. People who served our country with honor and should never be forgotten. Sadly, many veterans have no one to handle their funerals, so a group of Good Samaritans decided no one should be alone in life or in death. They made sure these vets got the honor they deserved.

"They might not have any family to claim them so we will claim them," one attendee said.

Bikers from different veteran support organizations led the procession Thursday to bury American veterans, who passed on and had no one to come and claim them.  

The remains of the men, who were all cremated,  sat front and center as observances were held.  A color guard, a rifle squad, bugles–all the formalities of a proper military burial for those who passed on with no known family or friends and no one to step up and tell their stories.  Veterans say no brother or sister should have to make that final journey alone.

The departed are mostly from Chester County, however, there were several were from Bucks County and many were Vietnam veterans with a slew of reasons they were alone in the world.

Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick was in attendance. The former FBI agent even stepped up when asked to serve as a pallbearer. He says it’s the least he could do.

"I think it’s really important that we honor our veterans every day. This is one more way to do that giving them their proper fitting burial here in a beautiful national veterans cemetery surrounded by a lot of community members who are very, very thankful for their service," he told FOX 29's Hank Flynn said.

Justine Newman, of the Chester County Coroners Office, wouldn’t take any credit.  She’s the one people say largely got this tradition started.  She says the ceremony is starting to be regarded as a good thing that should be done regularly.

"This time around we developed an SOP–a standard operating procedure–for identifying veterans, determining their eligibility for burial, and then scheduling that burial. So we’re hoping that it becomes routine in Chester County," she explained.