Three Dallas/Fort Worth Homeless Veterans Will Receive Military Funerals Friday

Dallas, TX - February 04, 2010

With more than 150,000 homeless veterans in the U.S., many whose remains are unclaimed at their death risk burial in pauper's graves. Through the Dignity Memorial® Homeless Veterans Burial Program, three Dallas-area veterans won't be among them.

Veterans Lynard Jones (1956 - 2010), Loyd Smith (1923 - 2009) and Carl Preston Anderson Jr. (1932 - 2010) will receive services conducted with military honors beginning at 10 a.m. Fri., Feb. 5, at Dallas Fort Worth National Cemetery, 2000 Mountain Creek Parkway in Dallas with interments following.

Jones, 53, died in January in Irving, Texas. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1973 to 1974. Smith, 86, died in December in Dallas. He served in the U.S. Navy in 1943. Anderson, 77, died in January in Mesquite, Texas. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1949 to 1951.

The branches of the armed forces served by these veterans are varied. Their years of military service span four decades. The wartime conflicts of their generations include WWII, Korea and Vietnam. But the three men share one common bond: they each had no home, no money and no legal next-of-kin to make their funeral arrangements. That's when Moore Funeral Home on North Davis in Arlington stepped in to see to it that Jones, Smith and Anderson receive burials befitting veterans of our nation's armed services.

"The Dignity Memorial Homeless Veterans Burial Program is a cooperative effort designed to ensure that veterans who are homeless, indigent and have no family receive the honors in death that their service in life merited," said Wes Killian, director of Dignity Memorial funeral and cemetery providers in Dallas and Fort Worth. "We're honored to be able to give these three men the dignified military services they deserve," he said.

Jones, Smith and Anderson will receive graveside services Friday morning, complete with military funeral honors, including the folding and presentation of the American flag, a rifle volley and the playing of taps. An Army chaplain will officiate the services.

The Dignity Memorial Homeless Veterans Burial Program is a cooperative effort among Dignity Memorial funeral, cremation and cemetery service providers, Dallas Fort Worth National Cemetery, the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office, the DFW Honor Guard, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Paralyzed Veterans Honor Guard and local veterans organizations and veterans advocates.

Through the program, Dignity Memorial funeral and cemetery providers provide preparation of the body, transportation, casket and coordination of the funeral service. Dallas Fort Worth National Cemetery will provide the opening and closing of the gravesite, a grave liner, a headstone or marker and the graveside ceremony.

The Dignity Memorial Homeless Veterans Burial Program is one of many efforts of the Dignity Memorial network to honor and support our nation's veterans and active military. Other initiatives and programs include the Veterans Planning Guide, the Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall, educational veterans seminars and special pricing for members of veterans service organizations.

Moore Funeral Home on North Davis is a proud Dignity Memorial provider in Arlington. The Dignity Memorial network of more than 1,600 funeral, cremation and cemetery service providers is North America's most trusted resource for funeral and memorialization services. Dignity Memorial providers offer an unmatched combination of products and locations serving families with care, integrity, respect and service excellence.