BURIAL OF INDIGENT VETERANS
In the Spring of 2009, the Office of Veterans Affairs, Human Resources Administration of the City of New York, declared the Queens County Committee, of the Department of New York, American Legion as an Organizational Friend of Indigent Veterans. We became the third organization so honored.
Normally, when a person dies with no known next of kin and no provisions for the disposition of their remains, they are declared indigent and eventually interred in an otherwise unmarked grave on Hart Island, commonly known as "Potter's Field". If it is determined that such an individual was a honorably discharged veteran, they are eligible for burial in a veterans cemetery. However, there are no longer any veterans' cemeteries within the confines of the City of New York that is currently accepting new veterans for burial.
Current law does not allow the City of New York to transport a body outside the city limits. As an Organizational Friend of Indigent Veterans, the Queens County Committee may make arrangements for the burial in the National Cemetery in Calverton, NY. The George Werst Funeral Home, 7141 Cooper Avenue, Glendale, NY 11385, has agreed to handle the burials that are referred to us. They are doing this for only the funds provided by City and Federal sources.
The following veterans were buried by the Queens County Committee, Inc.:
Leonard Stevens August 7, 2009
Thomas Kilimet October 20, 2009
Joseph Castanella October 20, 2009
