A Military Funeral Ceremony For 4 Veterans’ Unclaimed Cremated Remains

The public is invited to attend the 10:30 a.m. ceremony (rain or shine) at the State Veterans Cemetery 317 Bow Lane in Middletown. DVA Commissioner Thomas J. Saadi will lead the ceremony which will be supported by the directors of a number of Funeral Homes from across the State, the Connecticut National Guard, and the Connecticut Patriot Guard Riders. In attendance will be state, local, and federal officials, and leaders of many Veterans organizations. Commissioner Saadi, CFDA President David W. MacDonald, and other dignitaries will deliver remarks during the ceremony that will include the posthumous presentation of Connecticut Wartime Service Medals.

At 9:40 a.m., the Connecticut State Police and the Connecticut Patriot Guard Riders will escort three CFDA hearses containing the cremains from the DVA Rocky Hill Campus to the Veterans Cemetery in Middletown.
The Veterans to be honored are:
• PFC Robert Benson, U.S. Marine Corps serving 1951-53, April 9,1931-August 19, 2008, died in New Haven;
• CPL Loren Milton Cubbison, Jr., U.S. Army serving 1953-55, November 4,1932-February 7, 2021, died in New Haven;
• CPT David L. Groher, U.S. Army serving 1943-46, May 9, 1919-November 14, 2008, died in Bridgeport; and
• RD3 Morris Meyer, U.S. Navy serving 1944-46, January 11, 1914-July 19, 2004, died in Bridgeport, and his civilian wife Cornelia Meyer, August 13, 1918 - March 24, 2003, died in Bridgeport.

This is the eighth such ceremony hosted by the Connecticut State Department of Veterans Affairs in coordination with the Connecticut Funeral Directors Association since 2009 when Connecticut established new protocols to identify unclaimed cremated remains of honorably discharged U.S. Veterans in Connecticut funeral homes with the goal of providing them a dignified burial with full military honors.