Middletown ceremony honors veterans’ unclaimed ashes

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. (WTNH) — The Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs and the Connecticut Funeral Directors Association held a joint military funeral ceremony on Wednesday to honor three veterans whose cremains remain unclaimed.

“Following a cremation or memorial service, sometimes the family or friends never return to claim the cremated remains of their loved ones,” said Lionel Lessard Jr., the president of the Connecticut Funeral Directors Association.

Pfc. Mario Nello DeVito (served from 1945-47, died in 2000 in Bristol), Pvt. James Dickinson (served from 1941-43, died in 1998 in West Haven) and Spc. 5(T) Richard Robert Thurston (served 1964-67, died in 2022 in Simsbury) were honored.

“May the path they walked, the path of commitment, sacrifice and duty, remind us of the profound cost of freedom and peace,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal said.

It’s the 10th year for the ceremony, which took place at the State Veterans Ceremony. A statewide protocol enacted in 2009 gives a veteran a military sendoff with full honors if their family cannot be located and the veteran’s remains are never claimed.

“The purpose of this ceremony, as you know, is to say that we claim them,” Middletown Mayor Benjamin Florsheim said.

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