Ohio Woman Says Locating Unmarked Graves of Veterans, and Raising Money to Install Markers, Is Her 'Calling'

Ohio Woman Says Locating Unmarked Graves of Veterans, and Raising Money to Install Markers, Is Her 'Calling' https://ift.tt/zw5REpJ

Christine Untrauer is finding forgotten veterans and honoring their lives of service

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Woman's mission to honor veterans

Christine Untrauer's mission is to ensure that no veteran goes unremembered in Portage County, Ohio.

Untrauer is putting in the time to locate the veterans who gave their lives for this country, but didn't receive a grave marker at the time — and getting the money to have that remedied. "These are the people who gave us our freedom," she told ABC affiliate WEWS. "No veteran should ever lay in an unmarked grave."

Untrauer is no stranger to military service. Her father, Norbert Freund, served during World War II aboard the USS Topeka and her husband was also in the Air Force for 20 years, she told the outlet.

"I really believe this is a calling for me," she remarked.

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So far, Untrauer has identified 49 veterans within Maple Grove Cemetery in Ravenna, four of whom were buried in the “potter’s field.” This section of the cemetery includes 130 individuals who had either been traveling by train or simply didn’t have the means for a proper burial, Untrauer told local Fox affiliate WJW.

Veterans Affairs will provide a marker at no cost as long as proper documentation is provided, but installation does require a small fee. “I don’t want the families to pay for those,” Untrauer added.

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One of the veterans she was able to posthumously help was Willie Ross Dennis, who served in South Vietnam in January 1968 and was 21 when he died, according to the outlets.

“Back when he passed...if you were in a military cemetery, you received a marker, but not in a private cemetery and this is considered as private," she explained to WJW.

Untrauer worked with the Ravenna American Legion Post to acquire a Veterans Affairs grave marker for Dennis  — and organize a dedication ceremony.

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Untrauer has also expanded her mission to include searching the rest of the 29 cemeteries within Portage County through the Veterans Marker Project.

Maple Grove cemetery superintendent Mark Gabriel, whose great great grandfather fought in the Civil War and is buried in a marked grave there, told WEWS that he's grateful Untrauer has made this her project. Gabriel added, "It gives me joy to see them finally get marked."