Three veterans whose cremains went unclaimed will be honored with a military ceremony on Wednesday at the State Veterans Cemetery in Middletown.
PFC Mario Nello DeVito, U.S. Army 1945-47, is one of the three veterans to be honored. He died in Bristol in 2000 at the age of 72.
PVT James Dickinson, U.S. Army 1941-43, died in West Haven in 1998, at the age of 80.
SP5(T) Richard Robert Thurston, U.S. Army 1964-67, died in 2022 in Simsbury, at the age of 79.
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Hearses will carry the three veterans’ cremains in a procession from the state Department of Veterans Affairs campus in Rocky Hill to Middletown for a ceremony with military honors.
The procession will begin at 10 a.m. and it will include a police and Connecticut Patriot Guard Riders motorcycle escort of the three hearses.
The ceremony will begin at 10:30 a.m. at the State Veterans Cemetery at 317 Bow Lane in Middletown and the public is invited to attend.
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Immediately following the ceremony, the urns will be carried steps away and placed in a columbarium.
This will be the tenth ceremony since 2009 when Connecticut established new protocols to identify unclaimed cremated remains of honorably discharged U.S. veterans in the state’s funeral homes with the goal of providing them a dignified burial with full military honors.
Honor Procession Route
This is the route for the honor procession:
- Departs at 9:40 a.m. from the state Department of Veterans Affairs, 287 West Street in Rocky Hill
- From the north or south, take Interstate 91 to exit 23 West Street. Go east on West Street for two miles.
- The procession will exit the main gates and make a left onto on West Street, eastbound.
- Turn right onto Route 99 and continue straight onto Route 9 South through Middletown.
- Take exit 12, Silver Street
- Make a left at the end of the ramp onto Silver Street
- Take the first right over the bridge onto Eastern Drive, keeping the Connecticut Valley Hospital campus on your left.
- Make a left at the stop sign onto Bow Lane.
- Travel half a mile and the stone pillar entrance to the cemetery will be on your right.
