NPR’s Michigan Radio outlet has posted text and audio of its report about Larry Tucker’s memorial which aired March 11.
Leah Zeldes, who persisted to get Tucker the veteran’s burial he was entitled to, and Kevin Jacobi of Muehlig Funeral Chapel, part of the Dignity Memorial network which offers free funeral services to homeless veterans, feature in the report.
After the rifle shots rang out and the procession headed back to town, Jacobi says he worries this is happening all over the place: Homeless vets die, and nobody’s there to bury them.
“You know, how many homeless people have a file folder in the backpacks with their DD214 paper in it?”
I tell him I don’t know what that is.
“It’s the honorable discharge paper that you need to be buried in a national cemetery.”
With an estimated 4,200 homeless vets in Michigan, he may be right to be worried.
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I think everone deserves a proper burial, whatever form that might take. It doesn’t have to be earned since we don’t choose to need one.
A DD-214 is one’s discharge paperwork, not the certificate suitable for framing. You get one upon leaving the service even if you’re not entitled to a national cemetery burial due to the nature of your discharge.
P. S.: Leah Zeldes did a mitzvah for Mr. Tucker. If only we all had friends as good as she.
Leah Zeldes, Margaret Bumby, Gail Christopherson, Katherine Becker and others represent the very best of the fandom I fell in love with. They either visited Larry regularly or went out of their way to get Larry a proper burial.
Larry’s contributions to fandom will live on long after Larry’s name is forgotten. That is a tragedy.