Sunlight streamed through stained glass windows as hundreds stood in the West Des Moines Christian Church on Friday, heads bowed and hands over hearts, honoring unclaimed veterans and spouses.
Seventy collective flag and urn bearers filed in, holding the urns of the Iowans who would finally be laid to rest. Their names — veterans spanning the Civil War to the Vietnam War — echoed through the nave in a long overdue tribute.
Until now, the remains of 20 veterans and five spouses were unclaimed. Some were never picked up from the funeral home; others were recently found in a storage unit; and one was finally identified as a soldier from the Civil War.
They were all buried at the Iowa Veterans Cemetery on Friday, laid to rest and honored for the first time since their deaths.
After Iowa National Guard Capt. Tim Hadley led the group in prayer, Rich Shipley, member of the Patriot Guard Riders, a nonprofit that accompanies veterans and their families to funerals, spoke of the gravity of the ceremony.