‘Always in our hearts’

On a cold, cloudy Thursday afternoon with a light rain falling and an easterly breeze sweeping across the manicured cemetery north of Fernley, the Nevada Veterans Coalition remembered two servicemen whose remains were recently identified.

The monthly ceremony at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Ceremony honored U.S. Marine Pfc. Eduard Avila and Navy TM3 David Bozon. A folded U.S. flag and wreath with the words “always in our hearts” guarded their two urns.

As the ceremony began to unfold, an honor guard formed by the Patriot Guard marched to the pavilion while carrying the Stars and Stripes. Narrator Sharon Serenko of the NVC said the ceremony honored and celebrated both men’s lives as veterans, patriots and individuals who had an undying love for their country. She said the ceremony provides a closure that every veteran deserves. Every month, the NVC conducts unaccompanied services, and then the remains of the veterans are interred at the cemetery.

“We remember each of these men interred in this hallow place,” Serenko said in her remarks.

She said each veteran’s final place at NNVMC holds a story of everyone who served in the armed forces.

Near the end of the ceremony, two soldiers from the Nevada Army National Guard in Reno – Pfc. Noah Jennings and Sgt. First Class Mayra Haaglund — provided military funeral honors by refolding the flag and then presenting it to Curt Englehart, regional rural representative for U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto.

Many state and federal agencies, Walton’s Funeral Home and other mortuaries provide a significant role in conducting the identification process for many unclaimed remains. In September, the NVC honored 27 individuals whose remains were identified after years of going unnoticed.