Grave marker stolen from veteran's grave
By Karissa Minn
kminn@salisburypost.com
ROCKWELL — A temporary marker on the grave of a World War II veteran was reported stolen Wednesday morning from Brook Hill Memorial Gardens in Rockwell.
According to the report from the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office, the 50-pound bronze marker was worth about $800.
It bore the name of Pfc. Ken Whitley, who served in U.S. Army communications for three years during World War II. He died May 15 and was buried May 18.
“I could not believe that anyone would do that,” said his son, Wayne Whitley, on Friday. “If someone’s passed away, and you go in and disturb their resting place, you can’t replace that.”
June Isaman, who works at the cemetery located at 8625 U.S. 52, reported that the theft occurred between 10 and 10:45 a.m. Wednesday. The grave marker is the property of the cemetery.
The temporary grave marker is a 24-inch by 12-inch bronze block with slide-on letters, Isaman said Friday. It wasn’t the only one on display at Brook Hill Memorial Gardens at the time, but no others were taken or tampered with.
“We were just shocked,” she said. “When the permanent marker comes in, we’re hoping they’ll leave it alone.”
Wayne Whitley said he doesn’t know why someone would steal his father’s marker in particular.
“My dad was 89 years old. There were not many people who didn’t like him,” he said. “It would take somebody hard up for a dollar to do it” for money.
The Rockwell family has ordered a permanent marker from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to honor him. One part already has arrived, and now they’re just waiting on the base.
But until then, the grave of Ken Whitley won’t bear his name.
“I’d just like to know who would do something like that,” Wayne Whitley said. “I’d like to see the people come forward.”
Contact reporter Karissa Minn at 704-797-4222.
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This lasting tribute is provided through the Department of Veterans Affairs, or the VA. Upon the serviceman or servicewomans death, surviving family members may apply for the military memorial headstone by submitting an application to the VA. This service is provided free of charge to the applicant. This government provided marker or headstone is available for unmarked graves of any eligible Veteran. The grave may be located in any cemetery in the world and the date of death is irrelevant in this program. The VA will also provide a headstone or marker for eligible veterans that passed away on or after the date of November 1, 1990, even if the grave already has a marker provided by a private source. If the veterans grave is privately marked already, the applicant may submit an application for one of three options. Headstones , markers and the new medallion (available by April 30, 2010) are the available selections. The process is slightly different for veterans that have opted to be buried or memorialized in a state Veterans cemetery, national cemetery or military base/post cemetery. When this is the case, cemetery officials will order the headstone or marker for the deceased veteran. The inscription will be decided upon by the veterans next of kin or an authorized party. It should be noted that the spouses and dependents of deceased veterans will not be eligible to receive a military headstone or marker furnished by the government unless they are buried alongside the deceased veteran in a state Veterans cemetery, national cemetery or military base/post cemetery. This helps to keep a uniformed look in the military cemeteries across the nation. If the spouse is buried outside of the listed cemeteries, the headstone or marker expense becomes a private matter.
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