BOULDER CITY (KTNV) — Sitting on the shelves of many mortuaries are the remains of people who have not been claimed, and some Southern Nevada groups are coming together to figure out if any of them are veterans.
Then lay them to rest with honor.
Thanks to the Missing in Nevada Project, a specialist does research on the remains, looking at their names and any other information the mortuary might have.
This year, 17 people have been identified as veterans from the Pahrump Family Mortuary and Desert Memorial Cremation & Burial, so they were able to be buried with a proper military funeral.
Among those 17 was a World War I veteran. Kenneth Hunt died in 1995 and served in the Army from 1917 to 1919, right at the end of World War I.
His remains have been sitting on a shelf, unidentified. But now, he’s been laid to rest after being identified as a veteran.
These are the 17 veterans who were identified and buried at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery on Nov. 20, 2019:
Bush, Clifford (1912-1994) served in the US NAVY 1942-1945 WWII
Davis, Robert (1930-2008) served in the US AIR FORCE 1950-1951
Esposito, Louis (1917-1992) served in the US ARMY 1942-1945 WWII
Evans, George (1932-2011) served in the US AIR FORCE 1949-1950
Fawcett, Edwin (1924-1994) served in the US ARMY 1943-1943 WWII
Gardner, John (1933-2003) served in the US AIR FORCE 1950-1953 KOREA
Gorney, Theodore (1920-1994) served in the US ARMY 1942-1945 WWII
Greene, James (1916-1996) served in the US ARMY 1942-1946 WWII
Hawke, Harris (1926-1994) served in the US ARMY 1945-1946 WWII
Hunt, Kenneth (1898-1995) served in the US ARMY 1917-1919 WWI
\Lambert, Clifford (1917-2008) served in the US MARINES CORPS 1944-1946 WWII
Lazich, John (1916-1994) served in the US ARMY 1942-1945 WWII
Little, Donald (1944-2008) served in the US AIR FORCE 1966-1970 VIETNAM
Merriam, Herbert (1919-1996) served in the US ARMY 1942-1945 WWII
Nussbaum, George (1908-1995) served in the US ARMY 1942-1943 WWII
Paulson Sr., Robert (1932-1996) served in the US NAVY 1951-1955 KOREA
Upin, Orrin (1907-1996) served in the US ARMY 1942-1945 WWII
