Burial planned to honor unclaimed Washington County veterans
The formerly unclaimed cremains of three U.S. military veterans will receive a funeral with full military honors later this month at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies.
The public is invited to attend the funeral ceremony, rain or shine, at 2 p.m. Dec. 27.
“It’s a wonderful thing, it’s fulfilling,” said Miles Glotfelty, a retired U.S. Army veteran from Amwell Township who has worked since March to have the veterans honorably buried in the national cemetery. “It’s all about these guys, and fulfilling a promise to get them their honorable burial. I hope a lot of people come, even if it’s snowing.”
The three veterans to be honored are brothers Aubrey and Louis Higginbotham, and Joseph Calhoun.
The Higginbotham brothers were World War II veterans – Aubrey was a Tuskegee airman, and Louis served in the U.S. Army – while Calhoun served in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Aubrey Higginbotham died in 1995, and Louis, in 2001. Calhoun was interred in the Washington Cemetery mausoleum after his death in 2021.
Their unclaimed cremated remains have been interred in a Washington Cemetery mausoleum known as the Four Seasons monument, where cremains of unclaimed individuals in Washington County are placed to rest.
In late November, following a court order issued by Washington County President Judge Richard F. DiSalle, the abandoned cremains of four men were released to Thompson-Marodi Funeral Home, who had offered to house the veterans’ ashes until the military burial.
The funeral home also will provide transportation to the Cemetery of the Alleghenies and purchased new urns that will be engraved.
“The personalized urns will be arriving shortly and, in addition to the hearse, I will be obtaining flags for the service,” Tim Marodi said, who has worked with Glotfelty and Washington County commissioners Diana Irey Vaughan and Larry Maggi to make sure the veterans are properly honored.
The remains of a fourth deceased man, Robert Campbell, who has been unclaimed since his death in August 2011, are also being temporarily housed at the funeral home.
Glotfelty and a group of volunteers are working to confirm whether or not Campbell is a veteran and meets the criteria for interment at the national cemetery.
Glotfelty, who once volunteered with the nonprofit Missing in America Projects, works to identify and inter the cremated remains of unclaimed American veterans, believes having the veterans laid to reset in the national cemetery is something he owes them for their service.
Among those who will attend the services is Dana Lee of Virginia, a second cousin once removed from Aubrey and Louis Higginbotham.
Lee, a genealogy buff, had been contacted by Glotfelty after he found her on ancestry.com.
“I’m appreciative of Miles’ efforts. I think (interment in the national cemetery) is a great way to honor (Aubrey and Louis) and to get them permanent recognition for their service and sacrifice to our nation,” said Lee, who will accept a flag for the deceased. “It also will allow for future generations to learn about them.”
After Lou Snodgrass, a friend and fellow member of American Legion Post 175, mentioned in the spring that Calhoun’s remains had been unclaimed since his death, Glotfelty began his quest to find out if any other veterans were interred in the mausoleum and to make sure they receive a military burial.