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A WWII vet’s body lay unclaimed at the morgue. Then neighbors did something beautiful.
A WWII vet’s body lay unclaimed at the morgue. Then neighbors did something beautiful.
Nick Addams (left) and and Bill Sheppard (center) attend the memorial service they arranged for their neighbor, World War II veteran Andrew Moore, 89, at Arlington National Cemetery. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)
By Steve Hendrix April 8
@SBHendrix
Andrew Moore lived alone and died alone. He was raised in an orphanage, never married and outlived his friends. For his last 40 years, the World War II veteran slept on a couch in a rent-controlled efficiency apartment in the nation’s capital.
The 89-year-old pensioner died in December with no will, no instructions and no next of kin. He lay in a cold room at the D.C. medical examiner’s office, where the unclaimed dead are usually destined for a nameless pauper’s grave.
Instead, on Friday, Moore was given a hero’s sendoff at Arlington National Cemetery. A uniformed honor guard escorted Moore’s flag-covered remains. In place of a silent goodbye, a bugler played taps and three volleys of rifle fire marked his passing.
How was a lonely man diverted from the oblivion of a potter’s field for the glory of his country’s most hallowed resting place? It was the work of a family Moore may not have known he had: the residents of State House, a post-WWII apartment building at the edge of Washington’s Embassy Row. ... His neighbors in that vertical village didn’t know much about the affable old-timer who smoked on the front steps. But they knew this: He deserved a dignified goodbye.
Nick Addams (left) and and Bill Sheppard (center) attend the memorial service they arranged for their neighbor, World War II veteran Andrew Moore, 89, at Arlington National Cemetery. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)
By Steve Hendrix April 8
@SBHendrix
Andrew Moore lived alone and died alone. He was raised in an orphanage, never married and outlived his friends. For his last 40 years, the World War II veteran slept on a couch in a rent-controlled efficiency apartment in the nation’s capital.
The 89-year-old pensioner died in December with no will, no instructions and no next of kin. He lay in a cold room at the D.C. medical examiner’s office, where the unclaimed dead are usually destined for a nameless pauper’s grave.
Instead, on Friday, Moore was given a hero’s sendoff at Arlington National Cemetery. A uniformed honor guard escorted Moore’s flag-covered remains. In place of a silent goodbye, a bugler played taps and three volleys of rifle fire marked his passing.
How was a lonely man diverted from the oblivion of a potter’s field for the glory of his country’s most hallowed resting place? It was the work of a family Moore may not have known he had: the residents of State House, a post-WWII apartment building at the edge of Washington’s Embassy Row. ... His neighbors in that vertical village didn’t know much about the affable old-timer who smoked on the front steps. But they knew this: He deserved a dignified goodbye.
19 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Please read the full link...I'm still crying.
this man was sleeping on a couch.
At least every year someone from the "Old Brigade" will put a flag at his grave stone, he will not be forgotten.
Honk------------------for a political revolution Bernie 2016
Be kind to one another .
