The Forgotten Heroes Burial Program

About the Program

Category: Human Services (Best in Category)

Year: 2014

The Forgotten Heroes Burial Program is the first program in the nation featuring a partnership between state and local governments and other agencies to arrange for the honorable disposition of unclaimed deceased veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces. In the event no family members come forward to claim the body of a veteran upon death, Bernalillo County partnered with the New Mexico Department of Veterans’ Services and assisted in the establishment of its Forgotten Heroes Burial Program to ensure that no veteran will be alone at the end, also ensuring that all honorably-discharged veterans receive a proper and honorable burial upon death. The Forgotten Heroes Program allows the New Mexico Department of Veterans’ Services to become the family of record of any person identified as a veteran by the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs and whose body is subsequently cremated and stored at state-contracted funeral homes. The New Mexico Department of Veterans’ Services will take possession of these cremated remains and will contact the Santa Fe National Cemetery and an Honor Guard Team to provide a full military honors funeral with New Mexico Department of Veterans’ Services serving as family members at the interment ceremony. The remains will then be interred at the cemetery’s columbarium. The burial is open to the public who wish to attend.