Texas post arranges for proper send-off for Korean War veteran

The cremains of a Korean War “Chosin Few” veteran with no surviving family have received the final send-off they earned, thanks to the efforts of a Texas American Legion post.

U.S. Marine Private 1st Class Lawrence Cox was buried at Houston National Cemetery on Jan. 31, thanks to the efforts of American Legion Post 490 in Houston, who immediately responded when contacted about the cremains.

Post 490 Commander John Cronin said a woman called the post and said she’d won a storage auction, and that Cox’s cremains had been found in the storage unit, along with his DD-214 and a certificate signed by President Ronald Reagan honoring the memory of Cox.

Cronin said the woman had expressed interest in providing the veteran with the proper burial but could not find any of Cox’s living family. “I said, ‘Let me call some people up and see what we can do,’” Cronin said. “We did. The (Department of Veterans Affairs) said that there was no next of kin for this guy listed.”

Cronin reached out to staff at the Houston National Cemetery and said the post wanted to provide Cox with a military burial. With assistance and permission from VA, Post 490 was given permission and scheduled the funeral for Jan. 31.

An honor guard was provided by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves, while Legionnaires from five American Legion posts in Texas 22nd District helped comprise the 30 or so people who attended Cox’s final goodbye.

“I felt blessed. That’s the best word I can say,” Cronin said of the turnout. “We had (Houston) city officials there from the (Mayor’s Office of Veterans and Military Affairs). We had a fire department there. The Houston Police Department was represented. Every form of government was represented very well.”

Cronin praised Post 490 Adjutant Patrick Casey, whom he credited with doing a lot of the legwork. But Cronin said there was no way the post was going to let Lawrence be interred any other way.

“As a Legionnaire, I felt that it was my duty as the commander of this post to take charge and to do this,” Cronin said. “Even if he doesn’t have any loved ones alive, he still has brothers-in-arms. There were three Korean War veterans at the funeral, and they came up and shook my hand and thanked me. And I said, ‘no, don’t thank me. Thank Lawrence for his service, that’s what allowed him to become a member of this national cemetery.”