American Legion Post 312 Honors 2 Unclaimed Veterans From Manatee County At Dual Funeral

MANATEE COUNTY, FL — When Sandy Gessler learned about an 87-year-old Korean War veteran who died alone, she knew she needed to get involved so he could be buried with the military honors he deserved.

In the months prior to learning about Albert Hall’s death, Gessler, a retired U.S. Army veteran and historian for Bradenton’s American Legion Christopher Cobb Memorial Post 312, had been working to identify all the veterans’ gravestones in Manatee County.

The North Dakota native had long been interested in genealogy and history. Since she is “100 percent disabled,” she began learning about her family tree to fill the time, she said. “I got real bored.”

About five years ago on Memorial Day, Gessler visited a pauper’s grave where a family member was buried. While there, she looked at the other names of those buried there.

“There was a Korean veteran, a World War II veteran, a Vietnam veteran,” she said. “None of them had their (military) headstones.”

As veterans, the federal Department of Veterans Affairs should pay for their gravestones, she said. She began researching cemeteries to make sure every veteran had a proper headstone.

When Gessler moved to Manatee County earlier this year, she immediately got involved with her local American Legion post and also began identifying veterans’ gravestones throughout the county.

Not only has she compiled a list of veterans buried in Manatee County, but her list also includes other information, including whether they were awarded Purple Hearts, Bronze Stars, or other honors, or if they were killed in action or missing in action.

“And I’ve done it all in the last six months,” she said.

Through this work, she got to know employees and owners of all the local cemeteries and funeral homes. When the manager of Groover Funeral Home learned about Hall’s death, he reached out to Gessler and asked if she could look into his military service.

Hall died May 10, but nobody claimed his body, she said. Though a 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis destroyed his records, Gessler found what she needed to confirm that he was a Korean veteran.

“That’s all it takes to get buried with military honors,” she said. "Just confirmation of his basic information, that he served."

Hall, a Parrish resident, had no family to claim him when he died, she said. He’d lived with a significant other for 16 years until she passed away, Gessler said.

As his health got worse, “he isolated himself,” she added. He had COPD, was losing his hearing and his vision was bad. Still, Hall was a familiar figure in his neighborhood, as he rode a four-wheel bicycle around town.

His story is heartbreaking, Gessler said. “He didn’t have benefits through the military, and he could have been in a VA nursing home, had his glasses paid for, everything. It’s so important that veterans get their paperwork in.”

As she worked with Rick Groover from Groover Funeral Home to set up a funeral service for Hall at Sarasota National Cemetery, Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown, who owns Brown & Sons Funeral Homes, stepped up to donate an urn with the veteran’s name on a plaque.

About a week before Hall’s military funeral Groover called Gessler to tell her that he had the remains of another recently deceased individual they believed might be a veteran.

She immediately got to work and was able to confirm that Emmanuel “Manny” Fluker was a Vietnam veteran.

“I found him within two hours,” she said.

The 76-year-old veteran, who died Sept. 5, was in the VA system and had been treated at the Bay Pines VA Healthcare System in St. Petersburg. He was homeless, spending much of his time in the area of the Manatee County courthouse in downtown Bradenton, and didn’t list any family on his VA paperwork, she said.

“He chose not to put anybody’s name (from his family) down,” she said. “He put his driver’s name down. He didn’t want his family to know for whatever reason.”

She learned that Fluker was a much-loved figure in the downtown Bradenton area who frequented Cork’s Cigar Bar and had a kind word for everyone he encountered on the street – from attorneys to business owners to visitors.

“He was homeless, but he was kindhearted,” Gessler said. “Always a ‘hi, ma’am, how you doin’, ma’am,’ respectful and friendly.”

Business owners and those who work downtown are planning to dedicate a bench in his honor, she said.

The American Legion decided to hold side-by-side funeral services for Hall and Gessler Thursday at Sarasota National Cemetery.

Mayor Brown stepped up again to donate the urn for Fluker. And as word spread about the funeral, Fluker’s family learned of his death and reached out. Several family members, including two sons, were able to attend the services, Gessler said.

Though they don’t typically escort funerals, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office offered to escort Hall and Fluker to the Sarasota County line, she said. At that point, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office escorted them the remainder of the way to the ceremony.

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Gessler said she’s amazed by everyone who stepped up to assist with the funerals.

“Everybody I spoke with along the way, everything was a ‘yes, yes, yes, yes,’” she said.

And though the event honored the deaths of two unclaimed veterans, Gessler stressed that “it was not a sad occasion.”

She said, “For us veterans, it got to be really exciting. It was just one thing after another that fell into place, and it was beautiful.”

She’s also inspired to work with the county’s veterans’ services department to ensure all veterans — even those whose bodies are unclaimed — receive the military honors they deserve when they die. She hopes to show county workers how she was able to confirm their military service and the tools she used.

“The information is out there and easy to access. If these two veterans fell through the cracks, that’s absolutely unacceptable and not necessary,” Gessler said. “I don’t want to see more veterans sitting in morgues or funeral homes.”