UNION BEACH, N.J. – A routine Memorial Day tradition led to a shocking discovery for American Legion
Post 321, exposing a heart-wrenching practice that leaves U.S. military veterans buried in unmarked
graves for years. Post 321 has since launched the Veterans Grave Marker Project, which has already
restored honor and provided closure to the families of several forgotten heroes.

For years, members of Union Beach Post 321 - including Legionnaires, the Sons of The American
Legion and the Auxiliary - have proudly walked the Shoreland Memorial Gardens cemetery in Hazlet, N.J.,
each Memorial Day weekend morning, placing over 450 American flags on veterans’ graves. But in 2023,
a simple request from the cemetery manager changed everything.

Bob LaCour, chaplain of Squadron 321, was asked to bring a few extra flags to the office to address any graves that might have been missed. He was directed to a side closet, where he found a Post-It note attached to one of several veterans' gravestones leaning against the wall that read “Not Paid”, meaning to not install the stone on the grave.

The discovery revealed a troubling reality: if a veteran’s family could not afford the installation fee for a
flat head or foot stone - a cost ranging from $1,000 to $1,600 - the marker was left in a storage closet or
maintenance basement, while the deceased veteran reposed in an unmarked grave, difficult or
impossible to be found by those who come to mourn and pay their respects. The grave markers are
provided free of charge by the Department of Veterans Affairs, but installation charges are determined
by the individual cemeteries.

Once this disturbing injustice was brought forward to the membership by LaCour, the response from
Post Commander William Gilkison and Squadron Commander Phil Ganz, and the membership, was
fast and firm. The Legion Family of Post 321 was going to fix this.

Joe Pitch, a former Marine and member of Post 321 and the local band the Vinyl Renegades, offered to
conduct a fundraiser. Together with the band’s followers and the Marcella Community Club in
Rockaway, N.J., the event raised over $5,600 to fund the proper placement of the granite or
bronze grave markers at Shoreland.

The Sons of Post 321 organized solemn ceremonies to honor these veterans and their families who
had long been denied. Services were held to provide much-deserved closure.