Volunteers Honor Forgotten War Heroes
GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4) - A group of volunteers are working quietly behind the scenes to honor forgotten American war heroes on Colorado's Western Slope.
Lisa Passmore is leading the growing effort to locate and replace missing veteran gravestones in the Roaring Fork Valley.
The group has identified 27 missing headstones, and so far they have replaced 10 by reaching the veterans' family members. Passmore says the headstones are missing for various reasons, and it takes a family member of the veteran to request the headstone from the government.
Passmore says the Veterans Association provides headstones for free but only if the service member's family applies.
The group has used research through Ancestry.com, military records and local newspaper clippings to find the relatives.
But there is more work to do. The group is gaining support to buy the grave markers for deceased veterans that they can't find family members for.
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Matt Kroschel covers news throughout Colorado working from the CBS4 Mountain Newsroom. Send story ideas to mrkroschel@cbs.com and connect with him on Twitter @Matt_Kroschel.
