Vietnam veteran gets proper final send-off, thanks to Massachusetts Legion Riders and others
Anthony Meizis served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War, then came home and never married or fathered children. He passed away earlier this month and already had prepaid for his funeral. His only surviving relative is dealing with health issues and would be unable to attend his funeral.
When she learned, McDonald Keohane Funeral Home Director Cara Johnson sent a Facebook message to the Massachusetts Department of the American Legion Riders that read, in part:
I have a Vietnam era veteran that will be buried Friday morning at MA National cemetery in Bourne and he has no family or next of kin that will be attending. I had heard of your organization, making sure that no veteran was buried alone, and I would be forever grateful if you would assist me in escorting him to Bourne for his burial and military honors. Especially since he loved motorcycles.
Department of Massachusetts Vice Commander Drew Pajak, who also serves as the Northeast Region consultant for the National American Legion Riders Advisory Committee, is an administrator on the Facebook page. He shared Johnson’s message to see if anyone would be able to attend. And that’s when things took off.
“When the message came in, I got a hold of (Johnson) and told her we’d take care of it. Then I got a hold of a couple (Riders) chapters in that area. We got the word to the (Post 79) commander in Weymouth,” said Pajak, commander of Post 185 in Feeding Hills. “We just took it through all channels of the Legion. And at last look at the Facebook post, there were more than 21,000 impressions and 2,300 shares. I was in shock.”
Getting the word out like Pajak did resulted in more than 150 American Legion Riders from multiple chapters and a total of around 300 motorcycles showing up to provide Meizis with a final send-off. Members of American Legion Riders Chapter 279 in Auburn, Mass., were the first to arrive at the funeral home that morning and served as pallbearers for the service.
The motorcyclists provided an escort from the funeral home to Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne – a procession that Pajak said took four minutes to pass – and then set up a flag line at the cemetery. Joint Base Cape Code provided the honor guard for the graveside service. Massachusetts State Representative Steve Xiarhos, a Gold Star father, also attended the funeral.
The send-off received media coverage from multiple local and national outlets. “To see the Legion Rider name out there and see The American Legion doing this for veterans, to me that’s just good P.R.,” Pajak said.
And while Pajak was surprised by the momentum the grassroots effort gathered, he said providing those types of goodbyes to fellow veterans is ingrained within the American Legion Riders.
“Nobody goes alone. It’s family,” Pajak said. “When you are dealing with any veteran, it doesn’t matter who it is. It’s still family. That’s why we all do this anyway.
“One of my favorite sayings out here is that the Legion Riders are the true Legion Family,” he said. “It’s the only real time you have the Auxiliary, the Sons and the Legion together in one room making decisions between each other. Otherwise, we have our separate meetings and functions. But the Riders are the true Legion Family.”