ROCK HILL — For almost 10 years, the cremated remains of an American Army soldier who served three years, including in Vietnam, have remained unclaimed.

John Joseph Cardenas died on Pearl Harbor Day, Dec. 7, 2004. Nobody ever came to the York County Coroner’s Office to claim him, or bury him.

Until now.

Cardenas was a specialist in the Army, rank E-4. Nobody, for a decade, helped bury him.

The cremains of Cardenas, along with cremains of three other military veterans from York County whose families either could not be found, did not exist, or did not claim them, will be buried June 6 at the Fort Jackson National Cemetery in Columbia. It has taken months, but the Missing in America Project that works nationwide to identify deceased veterans and ensure proper military burials has come through. The group worked with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to verify honorable military service after surveying the list of unclaimed deceased in York County. The York County Coroner’s Office confirmed identities and verified that the ashes had never been claimed.

May 24, 2014

Herald Online

Read more here: http://www.heraldonline.com/2014/05/24/5994194/4-deceased-unclaimed-york-county.html?sp=/100/104/#storylink=cpy
Read more here: http://www.heraldonline.com/2014/05/24/5994194/4-deceased-unclaimed-york-county.html?sp=/100/104/#storylink=cpy

John Cardenas (1949)