The unclaimed remains of four Schuylkill County veterans, including a Purple Heart recipient, were laid to rest Tuesday during a solemn ceremony at the Indiantown Gap National Cemetery.
Burial at the hallowed site in Lebanon County was made possible through the efforts of Schuylkill County Coroner Dr. David J. Moylan III and his staff.
Those laid to rest were Army Pfc. Andrew Gaverick, of Pottsville; Army Spc. William Frederic Herbst, of Palo Alto; Navy Seaman Michael Joseph Monaghan, of Mahanoy City; and Army Pvt. Henry A. Schlagel, of Pottsville.
Moylan said remains go unclaimed for various reasons.
“It could be their families have died or have moved away and not kept in touch, or simply family members who don’t have the financial means,” he said.
Gaverick, a recipient of the Purple Heart, was a Korean War veteran who served from November 1951 to August 1953. He died on May 15, 2020, at 90.
Herbst was in the armed forces from Oct. 2, 1967, to Oct. 30, 1970, served in Vietnam and was a recipient of the Army Commendation Medal. He died Jan. 18 at 73.
Schuylkill County Deputy Coroner Albert Barnes said arrangements were made to have Herbst’s wife, Marilyn, who preceded him in death, buried with him.
Monaghan served from Feb. 8, 1975, to Jan. 13, 1977, including in Vietnam. He died on Oct. 8, 2020, at 66.
Schlagel was a Korean War veteran, serving from March 13, 1954, to Dec. 1, 1954, and died on March 26, 2021, at 87.
The 50-mile funeral procession from the Simon Kramer Institute in New Philadelphia, where Moylan’s office is located, carrying the men’s ashes to the Gap included a coroner’s vehicle, motorcycle riders from the Patriot Guard Riders and members of the Marine Corps League Coal Cracker Detachment 432.
Fred Wonn, adjutant of the Coal Cracker Detachment, said it’s important that every veteran receive proper burial for having served their country.
Moylan said his staff, especially Barnes, made the burial possible. The project was two years in the making, he said, and was held up due to pandemic restrictions.
“There was quite a bit of paperwork we had to go through,” he said. “It took a couple of years, but in the end it was all worth it.”
Barnes said there was no cost for burial at the national cemetery, and the only cost to the coroner’s budget was for cremation.
During a brief memorial service earlier in the chapel at the Simon Kramer Institute, Marine Corps League members carried the black boxes containing the ashes to horses supplied by Kull-Heizenroth Funeral Home in Ashland and the Donald J. Butler Funeral Home in Minersville.
At the chapel, county Commissioner George F. Halcovage Jr. praised the veterans.
“These men are part of the fabric of the American flag,” he said. “They put their lives on the line for our freedom and for that I thank them.”
Arriving at the national cemetery under misty skies, the remains were met by members of honor guards from their respective branches of the services.
Monaghan was laid to rest first, followed by Herbst, Schlagel and Gaverick. For each man, the service included a rifle salute and the playing of “Taps”
Barnes accepted American flags presented as part of the ceremony “on behalf of the president of the United States,” the respective branch of the service for each man and “from a grateful nation.”
In addition to the flags, Barnes was presented with three shells from each of the salutes that he was told stand for duty, honor and country under God.
Joyce Paulowski of the Patriot Guard Riders offered prayers for the men, saying “if not for them we would not have the freedom we have today.”
It’s important to have people present for the service.
“They all passed away with no known family to hold their hands and say goodbye,” she said. “Today, they all reached their ultimate, peaceful reward.”
U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Laura McHugh, a Pine Grove resident, was also present.
McHugh, who was promoted to her current rank on Nov. 6, becoming the third female general officer in Pennsylvania, spoke after the ceremony about how various branches of military support one another, active and retired.
For those who have passed on, being laid to rest among their fellow veterans is fitting, McHugh said.
“We hope their souls have finality here and are at peace among their brothers and sisters,” she said.
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