All Invited: Military Ceremony for Three Veterans Unclaimed Cremains

This Wednesday, October 16th, the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs and the Connecticut Funeral Directors Association, Inc. (CFDA) will hold a military funeral ceremony for three (3) Veterans’ unclaimed cremated remains (cremains), all of whom served in the U.S. Army.

The public is invited to attend the 10:30 a.m. ceremony (rain or shine) at the State Veterans Cemetery at 317 Bow Lane in Middletown. DVA Commissioner Brigadier General (Ret.) Ron Welch will lead the ceremony which will be supported by funeral directors from several Funeral Homes across the State, the Connecticut National Guard, and the Connecticut Patriot Guard Riders. In attendance will be State, local, and federal officials, and leaders of many Veterans organizations. Commissioner Welch, CFDA President Lionel J. Lessard, Jr., and other dignitaries will deliver remarks during the ceremony that will include the posthumous presentation of Connecticut Wartime Service Medals.

At 10 a.m., the Connecticut State Police and the Connecticut Patriot Guard Riders will escort CFDA hearses containing the cremains from the CT Veterans Affairs Rocky Hill Campus to the State Veterans Cemetery in Middletown.

The three U.S. Veterans to be honored are (in alphabetical order):

• PFC Mario Nello DeVito, U.S. Army serving 1945-47, July 21, 1927-July 18, 2000, died in Bristol;
• PVT James Dickinson, U.S. Army serving 1941-43, November 14, 1917-March 17, 1998, died in West Haven;
• SP5(T) Richard Robert Thurston, U.S. Army serving 1964-67, October 11, 1943-October 21, 2022, died in Simsbury.

This will be the 10th such ceremony hosted by Connecticut Veterans Affairs in coordination with the Connecticut Funeral Directors Association since 2009 when Connecticut established new protocols to identify unclaimed cremated remains of honorably discharged U.S. Veterans in Connecticut funeral homes with the goal of providing them a dignified burial with full military honors.

For information about the Connecticut Veterans Affairs, visit https://portal.ct.gov/DVA

For information about the Connecticut Funeral Directors Association, visit www.CTFDA.org