Today I had the honor of attending the Washington State Veterans Cemetery Forgotten Heroes Interment just outside of Medical Lake. The ceremony is used to provide proper burial for abandoned or unclaimed remains of veterans in the Spokane region.
At today’s ceremony 55 remains were interned at the Washington State Veterans Cemetery. EWU ROTC Cadet Tyler Roylance participated in the ceremony as part of the Washington State Honor Guard.
Cadet Roylance of Post Falls, Idaho is one of the Simultaneous Membership Program (SMP) Cadets enrolled in the EWU ROTC program while also serving in the Washington State National Guard. While conducting monthly guard drill duty an SMP Cadet is paired with and mentored by a National Guard officer. The program also allows Cadets to participate in highly selective National Guard activities such as the Washington State Honor Guard.
After conducting Honor Guard duties Cadet Roylance also participated in helping to intern one of the remains at the cemetery:
More pictures from the Forgotten Heroes Ceremony can be viewed on the EWU ROTC Flickr page. It was a fantastic job by the Washington State Veterans Cemetery, the National Guard, and the local veteran community for putting together such a memorable event to honor these forgotten heroes.
