My father, George Willis Walker, died in March 1970. He was buried at a cemetery in a south Chicago suburb without a grave marker. The cost to install one was not in the budget of a young widow with four teenagers to continue raising.
I don’t know if my Mom, Thelma Jemison Walker, was informed by the Veterans Administration (VA) of a benefit available to her late husband, a non-combat veteran of the Korean War and a four year member of the US Army Reserves, of a free grave marker. I do know that my father’s sister, Marion Jewel Walker Suttle, told me on a couple of occasions that she had asked Mom shortly after Dad’s funeral about obtaining one. Aunt Jewel said my Mom responded that the cemetery wanted more money to place a grave marker and she didn’t have the funds available.
Fast forward 48 years. While speaking with Aunt Jewel following the celebration of her 80th birthday in May 2018, she once again mentioned a grave marker for her brother’s resting place. She told me that the VA, now known as Veterans Affairs, would provide one free of charge. That knowledge spurred me and my siblings, Maurice, Cheryl and Douglas, to act.
An Internet search informed us that the VA provides a government headstone or marker for the unmarked grave of any deceased veteran in any cemetery around the world regardless of their date of death. The benefit is available to any deceased veteran that was not dishonorably discharged. The application to order a marker can be found at this link.
I’m happy to report that on November 8, 2018, after my brother Maurice generously paid the cemetery’s fee, our Dad’s final resting place has a marker provided at no charge by the VA. May our Daddy continue to rest in peace.
Millicent Walker