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Three Police Officers and two VSO members stand at salute in front of coffin draped with an American flag at a Final Mile ceremony for a fallen Veteran.
Episode 3067 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about. how the VA Final Mile Program honored a Vietnam Veteran at Wichita, Kansas. The featured story appeared on the VA News website. It is titled: Navy Veteran honored in Final Mile Ceremony – Dole VA salutes fallen Veteran. It was submitted by Jeff Herndon who is the Public Affairs Officer at the Robert J. Dole VA Medical Center.
It was reported by Herndon that Dole VA’s Decedent Affairs Program Specialist Linda Rivera described the VA program that provides help for Vietnam Veterans who die alone. It’s called the Final Mile—a protocol that is activated when a Veteran passes with no known next of kin as was the case of Vietnam Vet Jacky Lyn Branstetter.
The Final Mile practice combines the efforts of the facility’s Decedent Affairs Program Specialist with community support to provide memorial services for Veterans who otherwise would not be remembered or honored upon their passing. The Final Mile program ensures that all Veterans are honored—not only in life, but also in death.
“We arranged for his burial to take place at the Kansas Veterans’ Cemetery,” Rivera added. “With the support of a local mortuary, law enforcement agencies and Veteran service organizations, we were able to provide a final salute to our fallen Veteran.”
About 175 VA staff, Veterans and community members turned out to render honors to Branstetter before the procession departed the medical center for interment at the state cemetery.
RIP U.S. Navy Vietnam Veteran Jacky Lyn Branstetter.
Listen to Episode 3067 and discover more about how the VA Final Mile Program honored a Vietnam Veteran at Wichita, Kansas.
