American flag returns to family of former unclaimed veteran
The burial flag of a former unclaimed U.S. veteran who has been laid to rest in the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies has found its permanent home with his siblings in central Pennsylvania.
Patrick Reynolds of Schuylkill County received the U.S. flag from the funeral of his brother, U.S. Marine Corps veteran Joseph F. Calhoun, who was buried with full military honors on Dec. 27, 2023, last week, weeks after he learned that his brother had passed away in 2021.
Reynolds said Calhoun had been estranged from his family for more than two decades, but Reynolds wanted to get in touch with him to let him know that their brother, Donald L. Reynolds, had died on Dec. 31.
He was unaware that Calhoun had passed away.
“I was shocked,” said Reynolds, who retired from the U.S. Army after 27 years of service. “I found a newspaper article about the efforts to have a burial at the national cemetery for my brother. I contacted the funeral home that was a part of the arrangements, and I got a rundown of everything that happened.”
He learned that a small group, led by Miles Glotfelty, a retired U.S. Army veteran and history buff, had worked to find a final resting place for Calhoun after Calhoun’s close friend, Lou Snodgrass, a 94-year-old Korean War veteran, told him that Calhoun’s remains were in the unclaimed section of the cemetery. Snodgrass, who passed away on Saturday, thought that Calhoun, a fellow member of the American Legion Post 175 who had served in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War era, was entitled to a military burial.
That was enough to get Glotfelty, who had in the past volunteered with the nonprofit Missing in America Projects that works to identify and inter the cremated remains of unclaimed American veterans, to look into the situation.
Through the group’s efforts, two other men, World War II veterans and brothers Aubrey and Louis Higginbotham, were laid to rest with Calhoun at the national cemetery after their remains were unclaimed following their deaths in 1995 and 2001, respectively. Aubrey Higginbotham was a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African American pilots in the U.S. Army Air Forces.
“It was touching. The way they cared for my brother and his remains were phenomenal,” he said. “The amount of work that went into getting his remains properly buried was amazing.”
Glotfelty, along with Washington County Commissioner and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Larry Maggi and Tim and Randi Ross Marodi of Thompson-Marodi Funeral Home Inc., worked with the coroner’s office, local courts, the military, and both cemeteries for approval of the interments at the national cemetery.
Reynolds said Ross Marodi, who also serves as administrative assistant for Maggi, put him in touch with Glotfelty and Snodgrass.
“I very much appreciate Mr. Snodgrass being the keeper of the flag, not the owner of the flag,” said Reynolds. “I didn’t ask him for the flag; he immediately said he was sending it to me.”
Snodgrass took down Reynolds’ address made sure the flag got placed in the mail.
When Reynolds opened the package, he was overwhelmed.
“My brother was proud of his military service,” said Reynolds, noting that Calhoun was a lance corporal.”We have a history of military service in our family and we are patriotic, so this means a lot.”
He said that after a family discussion, it was decided that the flag will be given to their sister, Marian Litz, who “is the keeper of the family history.” It will be displayed in a wooden triangular shadow box.
Reynolds said his brother “had rough patches,” and had long ago lost touch with his siblings. Reynolds adopted Calhoun’s son when the boy was 7 years old.
Calhoun, one of six siblings, was a native of Philadelphia and settled in Washington, where he worked for a battery company and earned the nickname “Battery Joe.”
Maggi said he was glad Reynolds received his brother’s flag.
“It was a good resolution, him getting the flag,” said Maggi. “It was a great feeling, very rewarding to get a phone call from Mr. Reynolds saying how appreciative he was. It was a lot of work done by a lot of people, and he was glad to see people in Washington County cared.”
Reynolds said he would have liked to have been at his brother’s funeral, but poring over photos that Ross Marodi sent – of military organizations, friends and family of the Higginbothams, and members of the community who attended – have been helpful.
“It’s just the fact that the town, the community came together to honor somebody that wasn’t one of their own and who they didn’t know, that means a lot,” said Reynolds, and the family appreciates it very much.”