Arlington dedicates new columbarium with joint committal service of veterans

By J.D. LeipoldMay 10, 2013

Casket Teams
1 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Casket teams from the Army, Marine Corps and Navy carry the engraved urns with the unclaimed cremated remains of the first service members to be placed in newly dedicated Columbarium 9 at Arlington National Cemetery, Va., May 9, 2013. Part of the cem... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Veteran Niche Plates
2 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Six veterans from all service branches were the first to be inurned in the new Columbarium 9 at Arlington National Cemetery, Va., May 9, 2013. The veterans cremated remains were unclaimed, but each niche marble plate is engraved with their name, year... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Marine Inurnment
3 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – A member of the Marine Barracks casket team places the urn containing the unclaimed ashes of World War II Marine veteran Pfc. Albert Klatt in newly dedicated columbarium at Arlington National Cemetery, Va., May 9, 2013. Columbarium Court 9 contains 2... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Civil War Soldier
4 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – The urn containing the ashes of Union Army 1st Lt. Zuinglius K. McCormack is rendered full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery, Va., May 9, 2013. His unclaimed remains and those of his brother and four other veterans from all service branc... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Civil War Union Soldier
5 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – The unclaimed ashes of Civil War Soldier 1st Lt. Zuinglius K. McCormack is rendered full military honors by members of the Old Guard during a dedication ceremony of Columbarium Court 9 at Arlington National Cemetery, Va., May 9, 2013. Nearly the size... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, May 9, 2013) -- Though the six veterans whose service era spanned the Civil War to Vietnam had no known relatives to see them rendered full honors and final respects at Arlington National Cemetery today, they were not forgotten.

Hundreds of service members and senior military leaders came out for the mid-morning service under rain-threatening skies to pay tribute to the two Union Army brothers, a Marine, a Sailor, an Airman and a Coast Guardswoman.

Their unclaimed cremated remains were recovered by the Missing in America Project. The veterans are the first to be inurned in the cemetery's ninth and last columbarium

Several weeks before the May 9 dedication of Columbarium 9, Kathryn Condon, executive director of Army National Military Cemeteries, said, "The military traditions associated with burials at Arlington National Cemetery, the nation's premier military cemetery, are honoring these heroes who were identified by the Missing In America Project.

"I can't think of a better way to dedicate this hallowed ground than by honoring these forgotten heroes who until now, did not have a resting place befitting their service and sacrifice," she said.

Part of the cemetery's three-part expansion program, Columbarium Court 9 allows for 20,296 niches for cremation urns. The $12.9 million project covers 2.35 acres -- the length of two football fields -- and is more than twice the size of the next-largest columbarium at Arlington.

Following dedication remarks by two military chaplains, a lone horse-drawn caisson carried a single flag-draped casket to symbolize each of the six urns. Peeling off from the caisson, casket details from each service branch bore a rectangular urn engraved with the veteran's name and service emblem which the detail placed on a pedestal, over which a flag was presented and folded.

After the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) firing party let off three rifle volleys, Taps was played. The urns were each placed in niches side-by-side and a marble cover -- engraved with each veteran's name, rank, service branch, date of birth and death, and the words "you are not forgotten" -- was placed over the top.

The committal service honored the following six veterans:

-- Army 1st Lt. Zuinglius K. McCormack (1843-1912), served with the Indiana 132nd Infantry Regiment in 1864. He saw action with Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman's Army of the Tennessee in such campaigns as Buzzard Roost, Dallas, Kennesaw Mountain and the Battle of Jonesboro.

-- Army Pvt. Lycurgus McCormack (1845-1908), served with the Indiana 103rd Inf. Regt. He saw action in July 1863 helping to repel a Confederate force of 6,000 under Brig. Gen. John Morgan in what would become the Battle of Corydon, the only Civil War battle fought in Indiana.

-- Marine Corps Pfc. Albert Klatt (1921-1999), served with the 1st Marine Division in the Pacific island-hopping campaign during World War II. He fought at the Battles of Guinea, Peleliu and Okinawa.

-- Air Force Staff Sgt. Dennis Banks (1943-2004), joined the Air Force in 1967 and served a combat tour in Vietnam. He left the service in 1971.

-- Seaman 2nd Class Peter Schwartz (1898-1986), served with the Navy during World War II from 1917-1919.

-- U.S. Coast Guard Reserve Seaman 2nd Class Virginia Wood (1923-2010), enlisted in 1944 as a SPAR, the nickname for the Coast Guard Women's Reserve.

Related Links:

Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington achieves 'verifiable, authoritative' database of all burial records

Army.mil: Human Interest News

Arlington National Cemetery on Facebook

Missing in America Project

3rd US Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) on Facebook