DEARBORN – Five veterans who died without resources and whose cremains have been in Michigan funeral homes for three decades will be honored during the city’s Memorial Day observances May 26.
This is the fourth time in the last five years that the Dearborn Allied War Veterans Council searched for veterans in need of interment as part of the Missing In America Project.
The DAWVC will conduct a funeral procession at 9:40 a.m. Monday before the traditional Memorial Day parade begins at 10 a.m.
Military service honors will be offered for the men during the noon Remembrance Ceremony at City Hall, 13616 Michigan Ave., following the parade. They will be interred at the Great Lakes National Cemetery soon.
The men are:
• Sgt. Russell A Shumway; Born Nov. 16, 1894 in North Dakota; Died March 31, 1980 in Grand Rapids; U.S. Army Troop A, 14th Cavalry, World War I, May 1917 to September 1919.
• S1C John Avram; Born March 29, 1924 in Detroit; Died January 25, 1986 in Detroit; U.S. Navy, USS LST-51, World War II, July 1943 to December 1945 (Normandy Landings, Okinawa Landings).
• Pvt. Andrew Hudacko; Born February 10, 1918 in Pennsylvania; Died Feb. 22, 1993 in Detroit; U.S. Army Signal Corps May 1944 to June 1946.
• Pvt. Howard W Johannsen; Born August 10, 1918 in Chicago; Died Dec. 31, 1976 in Detroit; U.S. Army June 1942 to October 1945.
• Pvt Orville M Koonce; Born April 26, 1924 in Nashville; Died Feb. 25, 1993 in Taylor; U.S. Army Air Corps August 1943 to October 1945.
To learn more about Dearborn’s Memorial Day parade, the oldest continuous parade in Michigan, go to www.cityofdearborn.org and click on the Memorial Day Parade button, which has a U.S. flag graphic. The information includes the parade lineup.