Not all suburban veterans know burial rights or options

When George Wingerter looks out over the rows of graves at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, he sees history.

He sees the generations of soldiers who have served and died for America. He sees where he could be buried someday, among them.

Wingerter, of Inverness, is a Vietnam veteran who served in the U.S. Army from 1969 to 1972. Because of his service, he is one of thousands of veterans in the suburbs to qualify for burial benefits at the area's closest national cemetery.

But like many veterans, Wingerter didn't know about his rights until recently.

“Short of being buried in Arlington (National Cemetery), I didn't know where else I would go,” Wingerter said.

The problem is common. Although 38,000 soldiers and their families have been buried at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery since it opened in 1999, officials said there are many more who are missing out because they just don't know about their federal benefits.

“We have a lot of work to do. There are a lot of veterans out there and this is the closest option for the area,” said Abraham Lincoln director Sean Baumgartner.

Open only about 15 years, Abraham Lincoln is relatively new among national cemeteries, but already it is the 11th busiest in the 130-cemetery system, Baumgartner said.

The 982-acre cemetery has plenty of room for growth, with only 150 acres developed so far. With thousands of Korean and Vietnam veterans aging, a new generation is about to be eligible for its burial benefits. The cemetery already performs 25 burials a day, but officials expect it to get even busier.

“They've earned the benefit through military service — why not take advantage of it,” Baumgartner said. “It's something they deserve.”

What are veterans entitled to exactly? The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs pays for the burial plot, opening and closing of the gravesite, a government liner, a headstone or marker with an inscription, an internment flag, perpetual care of the gravesite and a military funeral. Those benefits are valued at about $14,000, officials said.

Despite the benefits, only 17 percent of veterans chose to be buried in a national or state veterans cemetery in fiscal year 2013, according to the National Cemetery Administration. That number included nearly 125,000 internments at VA national cemeteries that year, but officials said there are thousands more missing out.

Several local veterans said they just didn't know about the benefits available to them.

Dozens of area veterans recently made a trip to Abraham Lincoln, many of them for the first time, to learn about their options through a trip organized by Glueckert Funeral Home in Arlington Heights.

“I had no idea this existed and then we pulled in and it was immaculately maintained, just like at Arlington National Cemetery,” said Bill Dearhammer, an Arlington Heights U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War era.

“It would be an honor to be buried among all those veterans,” he said.

John Glueckert Sr. — an Army veteran himself — helped organize the trip that saw more than 50 veterans and their families visit the cemetery in Elwood, near Joliet. It's the third such trip he's planned.

“We just want to inform people what they're entitled to. A lot of people are unaware,” he said. “They can save money. The burial is done with dignity and honor, and it is much closer than other national cemeteries in Illinois.”

There are also national cemeteries in Springfield, Danville and Rock Island.

“It shocks me how often we go out and talk to people, and they just don't know,” said Lynne Phelan, administrative supervisor at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery. “I think death is something people like to avoid thinking about, but this is something that all veterans need to know.”

Time, forgetfulness and a lack of publicity all might play into why veterans don't know about their benefits, officials said.

“In general you might know you have a burial benefit, but you don't know all the details. Not many of us can find our DD214-form after all these years,” said John Bloniarz, a Schaumburg U.S. Army veteran who was on the cemetery tour. He was stationed in Germany in the early 1960s.

The decision to be buried there or somewhere else still comes down to a family choice, or a religious one, said Bloniarz, who also is considering being buried at a Catholic cemetery.

“At least here you know someone is going to put a flag on the grave,” he said.

Just seeing the cemetery was an emotional experience that brought back memories for many.

“It's about that shared experience in the form of love of country, love of God, and love of mankind — that is what the military used to be about. That's the bottom line,” Wingerter said.

Bloniarz likened the emotions to those he experienced when he visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., something he still gets choked up talking about.

“These kids never had a chance to get married or anything,” he said. “At (Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery) people can visit and understand. This is the closest you can come if you haven't seen the Wall or Normandy or visited Arlington.”

The idea of receiving a full military burial is also attractive to some because of the respect it brings, especially to veterans of the Vietnam era, many of whom were not welcomed home with the warm reception received by today's veterans.

“Most of us coming home did not get parties or parade,” said Art Ellingsen, an Arlington Heights U.S. Navy veteran who served in Vietnam.

“It wasn't until about three years ago when I was walking in the Memorial Day Parade that I ever got a ‘thank you,'” Wingerter added. “We were spit on; we were cursed at.”

While a new generation of veterans still is deciding whether to be buried at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, the rows of graves they saw there had a lasting effect on the veterans who visited, regardless of the burial choice they make.

“The most touching thing is when you see generation after generation lay it on the line for freedom. At that cemetery there is a kinship of all those generations in one place,” Wingerter said. “When you look at those grave markers, you realize that freedom is not free. People have paid an enormous price for us.”