House looks at change to aid in proper interment of veterans’ cremains

DES MOINES - 'Old soldiers never die” is, well, just an expression.

The reality is that they do die and too often veterans' remains sit, unclaimed, in funeral homes rather than being interred in a manner appropriate for someone who served in the military, according to speakers at a House Veterans Affairs subcommittee meeting Monday.

Iowa funeral directors estimate they have the cremated remains of somewhere between 20 and 50 veterans in storage because no one has come forward to claim them.

In some cases, according to Mike Triplett, who represents the Iowa Funeral Directors Association, the veterans are homeless, but in other cases they have no family members to claim their remains.

Kent Hartwig, who represents the American Legion, told the subcommittee the unclaimed remains of many veterans were handled by the Iowa Veterans Cemetery at Van Meter when it opened in 2008.

The problem, Triplett and others explained, is that state law requires funeral directors to maintain possession of cremated remains until a family member signs off to receive them.

Rep. Rob Bacon, R-Slater, a funeral director by trade, said it is not unusual that remains are unclaimed for years.

The Missing in America Project that tries to locate, identify and inter the unclaimed cremains of American veterans, has found more than 10,000 unclaimed remains since 2007 and interred nearly 2,300.

House File 377 would make changes in state law to allow outside groups, such as military service organizations, to take on the task of 'disposing of veterans' remains in a fitting manner,” Rep. Sandy Salmon, R-Janesville, said.

The bill would allow funeral directors to release information about unclaimed cremated remains to federally chartered veterans' organizations. It also would provide funeral directors immunity from criminal and civil liability for the release of the information as well as the release of the remains to a military service organization.

Salmon said the bill likely will be amended to reflect suggestions from lobbyists, including payment for the interment of remains. Lawmakers and lobbyists discussed a variety of ways to pay for the proper interment of cremated remains.

The changes are needed not so much for the payment, Bacon said, but to make it possible to dispose of the cremains.

'It would be nice to give these veterans what they deserve,” Triplett said.