After year in morgue, US Marine vet is finally laid to rest

U.S. Marine Corps veteran PFC Daniel Martinez is given a proper military burial Monday at the Veteran’s Cemetery in Marpi. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

Thanks to the collaborative efforts of the CNMI Office of Veterans Affairs and the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp., the unclaimed remains of a U.S. Marine veteran was finally laid to rest last Monday at the Veterans Cemetery in Marpi.

According to OVA executive director Marie Igitol-Salas, the U.S. Marine Corp veteran, Private First Class Daniel Martinez, passed away last year in December and, although efforts were made to find his next of kin, all efforts were exhausted. The late Martinez was a former United States resident before coming to the CNMI; and as he was not originally from here, the attempt at trying to locate his family was pretty slim and turned out to be unsuccessful. Salas said that ever since the last attempt was made, there was no recorded follow through between CHCC and OVA about the body.

Until she assumed her new role at OVA in October this year, Salas said she wasn’t aware of the unclaimed remains at the hospital’s morgue, and it wasn’t until she started her term that she found out about Martinez. “…When I found that out, I thought that was very unacceptable, to keep a veteran in the morgue for a year.”

She said that, after speaking with Thomas Palacios of CHCC, they decided to both take the preliminary protocols and make another effort to locate any living kin of the late veteran and also sent out a notice to the public. Palacios and Salas also tapped the help of the American Red Cross, but after more dead ends, and still no one claiming Martinez, Salas and OVA took on the responsibility to see that the veteran’s remains be laid to rest. Salas described this as one of her greatest accomplishments upon becoming OVA’s executive director, yet she also highly credited her team. “I’m very honored, and very proud to have finally give him a proper burial.” She also credited the OVA staff for all their help in the process, including the long hours of research in attempt to find Martinez’s next of kin.

On Monday, three Marine officers arrived from Guam to be present for the burial, and helped escort the casket, and honored the late veteran in a military fashion before laying the body to rest at the Veterans Cemetery. And although the veteran may not have had any family claim his body, several of Martinez’s close friends in the CNMI gathered for the burial. Salas described the moment, a beautiful one.