The Athens Marine Corps League Joseph Schmittou Detachment #1083 was proud to participate in a funeral service at Lord and Stephens Funeral Home on September 20 along with the corresponding interment the following day to lay to rest the unclaimed remains of eight Georgia veterans as part of The Patriot Remembrance Program. These patriots died without family to claim them (some more than 27 years ago) and as their brothers and sisters in arms, we are honored to participate in this service.

Members of our detachment stood in for family members to accept the flags for these unclaimed veterans at Georgia National Cemetery today. We are preparing a place of honor in our meeting hall for the flag of our fellow Marine, Corporal Munie, and are looking for homes for two other flags.

See below for detailed obituaries of all of the veterans who were honored.

We would like to honor the following patriots (obituaries as published in the service bulletin):

Sergeant Edward Charles Munie (US Army), 85, of Athens, died September 6, 1995. He was born March 10, 1910 in Belleville, Illinois to the late Otto Munie and Ola Klemke Munie. Mr. Munie served his country in the U.S. Army from 1941 to 1943, when he received an honorable medical discharge at Winter General Hospital in Topeka, Kansas. He later worked as a steam fitter in the construction industry.

Corporal Edith Allen Marsh Munie (USMC), 80, of Athens, died February 14, 1996, just six months after her husband, Edward (above). Edith was born December 18, 1915 in Belleville, Illinois to the late Frank W. Marsh and Anna Buser Marsh. She graduated from Belleville High School and then worked as a sales clerk for the J.C. Penney Company. She entered the U.S. Marine Corps in 1943 and served her country until 1945 as a calculating machine operator, creating inventory lists, invoices, figuring payroll, daily sales total, and working as a cashier. On her report of separation, she indicated that her plan for civilian life was to get married and become a homemaker, which is exactly what she did. She and her husband, Edward Charles Munie, moved to Athens to live near their daughter before their final illnesses. Their daughter has since passed away.

Sergeant Ronald Gary Pierce (US Army), 54, of Jefferson, died on August 13, 2000. He was born on February 27, 1946 in Atlanta, GA to the late Clarence Allen Pierce and Doris Inez Freeland Pierce. His father owned a filling station, and his mother was a housewife. Ronald served his country in the United States Army by enlisting in 1964. He served in Vietnam and qualified for the Army Expert Marksmanship Badge with the M-1 and M-14 rifles. Later in his life, Ronald experienced divorce, addiction, and homelessness, though at the end of his life he had sought help and found recovery at the Potter’s House, a Christian men’s mission in Jefferson, GA, where he worked and lived at the time of his death.

Private Thomas James Barnes (US Army), 77, of Winterville, died on October 3, 2004. James was born September 12, 1927 to the late Thomas and Viola Powell Barnes. He served stateside in the U.S. Army during World War II as a truck driver and later lived in Chicago before moving to Georgia. Though he never saw foreign service, he was very proud of his contributions to the war effort and his service to his country.

Private William Lawrence Trawick (US Army), 72, of Hull, died on January 12, 2010. He was born June 19, 1937 in Pontiac, MI to the late William R. Trawick and Iva D. Shook Trawick. William served his country in the United States Army from 1955 to 1958. Later he worked as an assembler for General Motors. At the time of his death, William was survived by 3 children, 4 grandchildren, 2 great-grandchildren, and 3 siblings, none of whom were located.

Private First Class James Norman Griffin (US Army), 84, of Bogart, died on November 24, 2011. He was born in Adel, Georgia and served his ountyr in the United States Army from 1945 to 1946. In civilian life, he worked as a self-employed ceramic tile contractor. He was preceded in death by his wife, Ruth Smith Griffin, and was survived by an uncle who has since passed away. In his final day, James was cared for by his good friend, Larry Strickland of Toccoa, who has also since passed away.

Specialist 4 William Jack Radder (US Army), 71, of Winterville died on August 22, 2013. William was born October 22, 1941 in St. Louis, MO to the late Carl Radder and Marjorie E. Cammann Radder. He served his country as an infantryman with the United States Army during the Vietnam Conflict from 1966 to 1967. Few details are available for the rest of William’s life. He was married at one point but suffered from addiction and died at his home with no known family.

Specialist 4 Charlie Alvin Thomas (US Army), 68, of Athens, died on July 23, 2022. Charlie was born November 24, 1953 in Gastonia, NC to the late Burl Keller Thomas and Sarah Ruth Kennedy Thomas. He served his country in the United States Army from 1973 to 1975. His last duty assignment was as a medical assistant stationed in Hawaii. In civilian life, Charlie worked as a cook and was of the Baptist faith. He was married at one point but later divorced, and at the end of his life he lived quietly, often keeping to himself. He relied on friends to drive him to the grocery store, but he was responsible and thought of the future: every time his good friend Billy Hughes drove him to Walmart, when they passed Lord and Stephens, he would instruct Billy to call them when the time came; Charlie had prearranged for his own cremation and paid for it ahead of time. When he called to make his preneed appointment, the scheduler made a note that Charlie was “an extremely nice man.” Charlie requested that his urn be mailed without honor or ceremony to Georgia National Cemetery. Charlie died at home without any family. He probably did not arrange for a funeral service because he didn’t think anyone would come. We are honored to gather here today and honor a veteran in place of his family and to count ourselves among his friends and community.

The Missing in America Project is a non-profit organization that works nationwide to locate, identify and inter the unclaimed creamted remains of AMerican veterans through the join efforts of private, state and federal organizations.

They work through the effort of volunteers and in Georgia are especially seeking volunteers skilled in genealogical research.

The Patriot Rememberance Program Manual is being prepared to aid funearl homes, organizations, and individuals in replicating the veterans’ memorial service process. Lord and Stephens will announce details soon.