35 cents
VOL. 4/ISSUE 25
THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2016
Lost in America
Courage remembered
Patrick McCallister FOR VETERAN VOICE
pmccallister@veteranvoiceweekly.com
Yeoman 2nd Class Mary Josephine Quinn Frank was among the about 10,000 women service members sent to Europe during World War 1. She died in 1981. Then, sadly, her cremated remains awaited burial for more than three decades. On Saturday, April 9, the Missing in American Project laid Frank to rest with 12 of her fellow military veterans at the South Florida National Cemetery, Lake Worth. “It was a woman from World War I — we don’t see a lot of those,” director Kirk Leopard said. “I imagine there were not a whole lot of them.” In addition to the 13 veterans, Missing in America interred the remains of five spouses at the national cemetery during the ceremony. Kathy Church, Florida state coordinator for Missing in America, said the little known group has an unusual purpose. “Our mission is to locate, identify and inter the unclaimed cremated remains of veterans, spouses and dependents in funeral homes, hospital basements and medical examiners offices,” she said. Church said that there are an amazing number of unclaimed remains in the United States awaiting interment. In 2013, the Florida Legislature changed laws making it easier for groups such as the Missing in America Project to take custody of those qualifying for burial in national cemeteries to inter them with dignity. Church said now that the group has permission, and a friendly partner in Dignity Memorial, what it needs is people combing records to find unburied veterans, spouses and dependents. “We have 10, 12 volunteers for the whole state of Florida,” she said. “We desperately need more. We need volunteers.”
See LOST page 5
Photo courtesy of Congressman Bill Posey Palm Bay’s Arcadio Santiago-Rodriquez, far right, stands with Congressman Bill Posey, center, and Rob Medina, the Representative’s director of community and military relations. Santiago-Rodriquez was a Borinqueneer, a member of the Army’s storied 65th Infantry Regiment. On April 13 there was a celebration at Emancipation Hall at the U.S. Capitol for the regiment receiving the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award Congress can bestow.
Patrick McCallister FOR VETERAN VOICE
pmccallister@veteranvoiceweekly.com
On April 13, Palm Bay’s Arcadio Santiago-Rodriquez was at Emancipation Hall at the U.S. Capitol receiving the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award Congress can bestow. Santiago-Rodriquez was a Borinqueneer, a member of the Army’s storied 65th Infantry Regiment. “People just didn’t think they had it in them to fight, but they proved them wrong,” Rob Medina, Congressman Bill Posey’s director of community and military relations, said. “Puerto Ricans are a passionate people, and that passion was proved on the battlefield.” Congress awarded the Gold Medal to the entire regiment. Congressman Posey co-sponsored legislation with Democrat Pedro Pierluisi, Puerto Rico’s elected congressional Resident Commissioner to recognize the Borinqueneers for their often underappreciated courage. Medina suggested it to the Congressmen. Just as the Tuskegee Airmen and Buffalo Soldiers earned re-
spect for black service members, and the 69th Infantry Regiment earned it for the Irish, Medina said the Borinqueneers gave Peurto Ricans a sense of patriotic pride. “When I was raised in New York City, my parents taught me the history,” he said. Medina said when he joined the Marine Corps in the 1980s, he found respect earned by the Borinqueneers waiting for him. “Even to today those men of the 65th, they paved the way for all Hispanics, all Latinos in the military,” Medina said. In a press release, Posey — who attended the ceremony — praised the courage of the Puerto Rican soldiers during, especially, the Forgotten War, Korea. “This is truly a momentous day, one in which we honor the gallantry of this decorated unit and the valor of each of its soldiers,” Posey said in the press release. “During the darkest days of the Korean War, the 65th Infantry Regiment fought some of the fiercest battles under some of the harshest conditions, and they did so
See SANTIAGO page 7