Rare News Desk
A North Carolina funeral home is waiting to bury the flag-draped casket of World War II veteran, Sgt. John Robert Bergeron. His family says its fallen victim to government bureaucracy that’s put the burial in limbo.
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Another funeral home in the Goldboro area has nine urns sitting with the ashes of veterans waiting to be taken to their resting place.
“It’s just unfair. It’s just wrong,” said Sandi Lugo, a veteran’s daughter.
Lugo’s father died last month.
“He served in the Army for 13 years,” she explained. “He served in the Air Force for 11 years. He did several tours in Vietnam, and in Korea; he was a combat vet.”
Lugo says her dad wanted to be buried at a new veteran’s cemetery in Goldsboro, close to his home. But it’s unclear when he can be buried because that cemetery has yet to open.
In November, North Carolina dedicated a 60-acre Eastern Carolina State Veteran’s Cemetery that still isn’t open three months later.
Ilario Pantano, the state director of Veterans Affairs, says the cemetery’s opening has been delayed because legislators couldn’t pass a state budget on time. That means the state couldn’t afford to hire workers to operate it.
“I’m deeply frustrated,” Pantano said. “I don’t like bureaucratic incompetence. I don’t stand for it.”
After WTVD began investigating the issue, funding was found to operate the cemetery. It’s now reportedly four to six weeks from opening.
