QUEENS COUNTY COMMITTEE, INC.

BURIAL OF UNCLAIMED VETERANS 

In the Spring of 2009, the Department of Veterans Services, City of New York, declared the Queens County Committee, of the Department of New York, American Legion as an Organizational Friend of Indigent Veterans.  We became the third organization so honored.

Normally, when a person dies with no known next of kin and no provisions for the disposition of their remains, they are declared indigent and eventually interred in an otherwise unmarked grave on New York City Cemetery on Hart Island, commonly known as "Potter's Field".  If it is determined that such an individual was a honorably discharged veteran, they may be eligible for burial in a veterans cemetery.  However, there are no longer any veterans' cemeteries within the confines of the City of New York that is currently accepting new veterans for burial.

Current law does not allow the City of New York to transport a body outside the city limits.  As an Organizational Friend of Indigent Veterans, the Queens County Committee may make arrangements for the burial in the National Cemetery in Calverton, NY.  The George Werst Funeral Home, 7141 Cooper Avenue, Glendale, NY  11385, has agreed to handle the burials that are referred to us.  

The following veterans were buried by the Queens County Committee, Inc.:

 NAME BORN  SERVICE ERA DIED  BURIAL  LOCATION 
Leonard Stevens   9/22/1946  USN, Vietnam  06/25/2009  08/07/2009   Sec 34, Site 1645 

Thomas Kilimet

 5/24/1941 SP4, USA  01/19/2008  10/20/2009  Sec 34, Site 4127
Joseph Castanella  8/20/1948  PFC, USA, Vietnam  07/09/2009  10/20/2009  Sec 34, Site 4128
Patrick Amabile  3/12/1935  A2C, USAF, Korea  12/20/2009  04/30/2010  Sec 34, Site 3634
Joseph Pictrowicz  4/7/1947 PFC, USA, Vietnam  03/20/2010  07/15/2010  Sec 36, Site 4479
Neil T. McCafferty  8/16/1954 PVT, USMC, Vietnam  10/4/2010  02/17/2011  Sec 34, Site 1009
Marvin M. Byers  5/17/1954 PVT, USA, Cold War  11/27/2010 03/24/2011  Sec 34, Site 1900
Norman P. Hong  10/10/1934 PFC, USA, Cold War  03/11/2011  04/14/2011  Sec 34, Site 2574
Anthony C Stepenson 04/29/1946 USA, Vietnam 04/22/2011 07/13/2011 Sec  33, Site 1900
Ronald Romanowich 05/01/1943 HM3, USN, Vietnam 03/14/2011 08/18/2011 Sec 33, Site 1195
Morris Louis Golub, aka Felix Munso 03/18/1922 Merchant Marine, WWII 05/03/2011 12/06/2011 Sec 33, Site 2424
Louis Lamar 9/9/1940 PVT,USA, Cold War 6/29/2011 2/21/2012 Sec 34, Site 4589
Beverly Kidd 7/28/1943 Spouse 10/22/2011 2/21/2012 Sec 34, Site 4590
Albert J Hunter 12/27/1927 PVT, USA, Korea 11/15/2011 2/21/2012

Sec 34, Site 4591

James Black 2/13/1923 PVT, USA, WWII 2/23/2004 5/22/2012 Sec 35, Site 1594
Paul Busso 2/17/1948 SP4, USA, Vietnam 4/17/2012 5/22/2012 Sec 35, Site 1595
Thomas Robert Carrenno 12/5/1961 PVT, USA, Cold War 2/29/2012 5/29/2012 Sec 55, Site 649
Alvin D. Powers 11/4/1948 PVT, USA, Vietnam 5/8/2012 11/13/2012 Sec 55, Site 2464
Clifford C. Williams, aka Billy 4/30/1958 SGT, USA, Cold War 5/22/2012 1/9/2013

Sec 55, Site 368

Arthur Mindiola-Mercado 5/8/1942 PVT, USA, Vietnam 9/16/2012 4/10/2013 Sec 55, Site 1238
Edward Barnes 11/2/1934 PFC, USMC, Korea 9/16/2012 6/20/2013 Sec 55, Site 2169
Robert Langford 12/26/1943 SN, USN, Vietnam 4/4/2013 8/21/2013

Sec 55, Site 2977

Jesus Matos 11/4/1945 PFC, USA, Vietnam 9/8/2013 10/24/2013 Sec 55, Site 3854