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A proper military burial in CT for those unclaimed but not forgotten — a photo essay

Some of the thousands of veterans headstones at the Middletown State Veterans Cemetery.

A few of their cremated remains sat in funeral homes across Connecticut for years. Others, for decades.

The first of the six cremated veterans arrives to the funeral ceremony in a hearse. It carries the remains of Wilfred A. Carpentier and Robert L. Coston, Sr., who both served in the U.S. Army.

A long-overdue military funeral honored five men and one woman who served the U.S. but were never laid to rest.

Dozens of state and veterans groups — including the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs and the Connecticut Funeral Directors Association who helped identify the unclaimed remains — attended the service at the State Veterans Cemetery in Middletown in early November.

Connecticut Veterans from the Vietnam War era.

Ron Welch, commissioner of the state Department of Veterans Affairs, said the core missions of his department is to provide residential, nursing, advocacy and memorial services to veterans in life — and death.

“How we remember and honor the dead is more important than the other three missions,” Welch said.

Connecticut Veterans Affairs Commissioner Ron Welch speaks with local veteran groups.

This is the ninth funeral ceremony the two agencies have organized since 2009, when “new protocols were established to identify unclaimed cremated veterans’ remains”, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said, to provide them with a proper burial with full military honors.

Members of the Connecticut Patriot Guard Riders stand as flag bearers at the veterans' burial ceremony.

The six veterans served from World War II up to the Vietnam War. Four came from the Army, one from the Air Force and the last from the Navy. Two of the veterans were husband and wife.

One veterans’ cremated remains was left unclaimed for almost 50 years.

A giant American flag watches over the veterans cremains ceremony.

The six veterans were:

Wilfred A. Carpentier served in the Army from 1941-45 earning the rank of technician fifth grade. He died April 27, 1976 in Derby.
Robert L. Coston, Sr., was a corporal in the Army, serving 1951-53. He died Nov. 12, 2014, in East Hartford.
Michael Joseph Gruttadauria, Jr., was a fireman in the Navy, serving 1967-68. He died Nov. 28, 2021, in Hartford.
Joseph Henry O'Brien, II, served in the Air Force from 1951-61, earning the rank of airman first class. He died Aug. 13, 2021, in Southbury.
Sergeant Bernice Greenstreet Record was married to Private Roland H. Record in the Army Air Forces. They served from 1945-46. They died on Sept. 9, 2007 in Cheshire and Nov. 10, 1998 in Waterbury, respectively.

“Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in our service of our [great] country can never be repaid.’”

Ron Welch quoting President Harry Truman.