INDIANAPOLIS — The remains of two unclaimed Civil War veterans with links to early Indiana history were recently sent to Arlington National Cemetery for inurnment, according to Flanner and Buchan Funeral Centers.
A special ceremony at the Hoosier Patriot Memorial in Washington Park East Cemetery on May 7 honored their lives.
The cremated remains of six veterans were recovered from Flanner and Buchanan’s unclaimed storage vaults by a special task force. The veterans include Lt. Zuinglius K. McCormack and Pvt. Lycurgus McCormack, two brothers who served in the Civil War. The McCormack brothers did not marry, which explains why their remains might have been left at the crematory. The other veterans include Civil War Pvt. Hiram Maine, World War I Pvt. Forest Smith and Francis Zavier (unknown rank), and World War II Cpl. Leo Valdez Jr.
The ceremony included remarks by J. Stewart Goodwin, BRIG GEN, USAF (Ret), Executive Director of Indiana War Memorials; an explanation of the “Missing in America Project” (MIAP) by Indiana State Coordinator Bart Colvin; and comments about the McCormack family by Rick France, Vice President of the Genealogical Society of Marion County.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, the cremated remains of the McCormack brothers were presented to Colvin who, along with the Post 79 American Legion Riders, transported them to Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C. for a final burial service. The remains of the other four veterans are awaiting decisions of final burial.
This recovery effort is part of MIAP’s nationwide effort to locate, identify and inter the unclaimed remains of forgotten veterans.