Forgotten No More

No veteran is forgotten. None will be alone.  

This is the foundational principle of the “Standing with Fallen Comrades” initiative at the New Hampshire State Veterans Cemetery in Boscawen. The burial program for veterans with no known next of kin ensures they are laid to rest with honor and respect.

“New Hampshire cares about our veterans. I tell people all the time that we don’t just talk the talk. We walk the walk, and I mean that,” says Shawn Buck, who has been the NHSVC executive director for eight years and implemented the program in 2019. “The focus is on gratitude. We are grateful for those who served, and honoring their service is the least we can do.”

The services for an “unaccompanied” veteran can occur on very short notice as remains are never held overnight; rather, they are interred the day they are received. When there is time, the cemetery staff, with assistance from the nonprofit New Hampshire State Veterans Cemetery Association, gets word via social media to those who have signed up on a list exclusively for this type of burial. 

Signees are members of the military, volunteers and private citizens who have expressed their desire to pay tribute and to be the voice of a veteran who doesn’t have a voice or an advocate. 

Buck says that just in the last couple of years, the number of names on the list has grown from 300 to nearly 1,000. The list keeps getting longer.

“They are awesome. I should never be surprised by how New Hampshire turns out,” he says.

The Phaneuf Family Foundation provides financial support for a burial or cremation. This past summer there were two graveside services with military honors for veterans with no known family. On June 11, FN (Fireman) John W. Mulligan, a Vietnam War-era U.S. Navy veteran who served honorably from 1964-66, was laid to rest. He was 83. On Aug. 4, a service was held for U.S. Army Master Sgt. Matthew Stephen O’Malley, a highly decorated U.S. Army Vietnam War veteran from Bedford. He was 82. 

At each service, more than 100 people attended despite scorching heat and high humidity. The Granite State Sisters, an all-women’s motorcycle club based in the Lakes Region, stood at attention under the merciless sun dressed in their black leathers. Members of the Patriot Guard Riders, a national all-volunteer 501© (3) organization founded in 2005, are always there in full force. The group’s motto is “Standing for Those who Stood for Us.” 

“At the end of the day, to us who did serve there is no unknown veteran. They are a brother and we are there to recognize that,” says New Hampshire chapter President Nick Marks, who hails from Derry and was a senior airman in the U.S. Air Force for four years. 

“This is us showing up to show that they have family, though not by blood. Some of us have served and some of us didn’t, but we still respect their service,” Marks says. “We honor their service, and showing up for them and showing respect for them at this time is a way of honoring and respecting that service. It is very important that we be there.” 

The solemn ceremonies begin with the playing of taps by a single bugler and include the proper folding of the American flag. Where military honors are appropriate, a rifle salute is first, then taps, then the flag fold. The experience is moving, emotional, and beautiful. 

Patriot Guard Riders Bruce Colburn from Fitzwilliam, Kathleen Innis from Gardner, Mass. and Arnold Light from Litchfield attend regularly. They made sure that FN Mulligan was not laid to rest alone.

When asked what brought him here, Colburn succinctly replies, “An unrepresented veteran.” Enough said? “Enough said.” 

Craig Lavalle came from Windham. “I saw the Facebook notification, and I decided to join these people,” as he nods toward Colburn, Innis and Light. “I’ve done a couple of the others in Massachusetts, but this is my first in New Hampshire. I was in the service for 31 years and I did five deployments to the Middle East. I was a CW3 (chief warrant officer 3) in the United States Army.”

Reginald LaClair from Boscawen is the junior vice commander for the Department of New Hampshire Marine Corps League. “We are here to show our support for the individual who passed,” he says. 

“I have been to many of the ceremonies here before. We usually do the color guard for this area because our detachment is out of Bow,” he says. “We have other detachments all over the state. This is a beautiful thing, and it’s very emotional.”

Then there are the civilians with no military background but who attend nonetheless.

The placing of flags on graves is an annual Veterans Day tradition. More than 10,700 veterans and family members are buried at the New Hampshire State
Veterans Cemetery in Boscawen.

“They are there for someone they never knew and still come to show their deep respect. It’s very heartwarming,” Marks says.

“That is a beautiful thing, but I have nothing to do with that, to be honest with you. It’s the people of New Hampshire, the state of New Hampshire, and, importantly, the staff here. At the end of the day, I have the easy part. They don’t need much guidance,” Buck says. 

“Our staff is small, and we don’t have a lot of veterans on it. There are three of us here who have served. The other staffers say this is how we serve,” he says. “People come here and say to me, ‘Thanks for your service.’ I say, ‘No, thank you for yours.’ We all serve our country in some way. I spent 21 years in the Army on active duty from 1987 to 2008, and I loved every minute of it. This is how I continue to serve.”

The New Hampshire State Veterans Cemetery is at 110 Daniel Webster Highway in Boscawen. To join the email list: Visit NHSVC.com; on the home page, click the “News Notifications” tab, then click the button for “Standing with Fallen Comrades.”

Celebrating Veterans Day

During November, in observance of Veterans Day (officially Nov. 11), the New Hampshire Veterans Cemetery offers opportunities for the public to acknowledge the sacrifice, courage and dedication of veterans’ service to our country. 

• Bring your gloves and tools on Sunday, Nov. 1 at 10 a.m. to help get the Memorial Walkway cleaned and ready for Veterans Day. The event is hosted by Rolling Thunder of New Hampshire, Gold Star Families of New Hampshire, and the New Hampshire chapter of the U.S. Air Force Academy Association of Graduates. 

• You may help place the flags on the graves beginning at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 5.

• You may also assist in the removal of the flags on Thursday, Nov. 12 at 1 p.m.

All are invited and welcome. The mission of the New Hampshire Veterans Cemetery in Boscawen is to convey through peace and natural beauty a source of pride to veterans and their families and residents of the Granite State.

Showing up with respect

Support for the New Hampshire State Veterans Cemetery and respect for the service members interred here comes from the top down.

“The governors, our congressional delegation and our state representatives are always willing to come here, and they are always willing to help. It’s not just a function of ‘this looks good’ or ‘it sounds good’. They actually do show up,” says NHSVC Executive Director Shawn Buck.

“We had to cancel our Memorial Day ceremony one time during COVID. I was standing out front and practicing social distancing, and a woman walked up in her mask and she said, ‘Hi Shawn.’ It was (U.S.) Sen. (Maggie) Hassan. She was here with no fanfare. There was nobody else. It was just her and she was walking around and quietly paying her respects,” he adds. 

“I can tell you stories about all of them. Congresswoman (Maggie) Goodlander (lieutenant, U.S. Navy and U.S. Navy Reserve, 2010-2022) has been here, and once she was helping someone find their keys they had lost. I don’t want to single anyone out because they are all (including U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Congressman Chris Pappas) awesome. I want to include the governors. In my time here it’s been Gov. (Kelly) Ayotte and Gov. (Chris) Sununu, and they are both totally supportive.”