East Tennessee unclaimed veterans to receive military funeral
July 12, 2022

KNOXVILLE -- With no one to provide them with a proper final farewell, four East Tennessee veterans will be laid to rest with full military honors. The service will take place at 12 p.m., Thursday, July 14, at East Tennessee Veterans Cemetery. The burial is sponsored by Berry Funeral Home and Dignity Memorial’s Homeless Veterans Burial Program, along with East Tennessee Veterans Cemetery, Sevier County Medical Examiner’s Office and the East Tennessee Regional Forensic Center. The ceremony is open to the public.

Chaplain Pat Polis of Vietnam Veterans of America will officiate the military honors conducted by U.S. Navy, U.S. Army and Volunteer State Honor Guard, East Tennessee Veterans Honor Guard and Pigeon Forge Honor Guard. The Knox County Sherriff’s Department and numerous East Tennessee bike chapters will meet at Berry Funeral Home, 3704 Chapman Highway, at 11 a.m. to escort the four veterans to the East Tennessee Veterans Cemetery.

“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 Jeff Berry of Berry Funeral Home. “We’re honored to assist in giving these four veterans the dignified military services they deserve.”

The four unclaimed veterans include:

• Steven Dale West, Seaman Recruit who served on the USS Halsey from 1975 to 1978
• Thomas Patrick Bush, Aviation Boatswain’s Equipment Mate who served on the USS Coral Sea from 1971 to 1975
• Private William Frederick Purdy, who served in the U.S. Army from 1974 to 1975 • Private Second Class Kenneth Henry Mercier, Jr, who served in the U.S. Army from 1976 to 1979

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