By Kevan Moore
The Run to Tahoma has quickly become one of Kitsap County’s most poignant events, honoring former service members, especially those whose remains have gone unclaimed.
The celebration of life ceremony here in Kitsap County stirs many emotions and the long processional to Tahoma National Cemetery allows for some quiet reflection. Once there, a lone bugler, the volley of gunfire and the finality of laying veterans to rest with their brothers and sisters leaves a lasting impact that few could ever forget.
The Unforgotten, Run to Tahoma V Celebration of Life ceremony will take place on the outdoor plaza of the County Administration Building in Port Orchard this year. Last year’s event, outside of the Kitsap County Coroner’s office, drew more than 400 people and parking was an issue.
This year’s Memorial Day weekend event starts at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 24. In the event of inclement weather, the celebration of life will be moved indoors, followed by the motorcade to Tahoma National Cemetery. People coming for the Celebration of Life ceremony only can park anywhere on side streets around the county campus. Division Street will be closed.
In 2008 Mike Carroll, a founding member of the Kitsap County Veterans Advisor Board (KCVAB), read an article about the abandoned remains of deceased veterans at a funeral home in Missouri. Carroll contacted Leif Bentsen, the then-coordinator for Kitsap County Veterans Assistance Program (KCVAP) to see if Kitsap County had any unclaimed remains.
Bentsen, who is retired and now volunteers at the Kitsap County Coroner’s Office as a Deceased Veterans Liaison, made an inquiry with Coroner Greg Sandstrom who reported that his office had six unclaimed, deceased veterans on the shelves in his office. Sandstrom agreed to turn them over KCVAP for internment in Tahoma National Cemetery.
Bentsen brought the issue before the Veterans Advisory Board. Carroll immediately volunteered to help Bentsen with the project. Carroll was also the national chaplain for Combat Veterans International and arranged for a professional motorcycle escort to Tahoma National Cemetery 50 miles away.
October 2, 2008, was a cold and rainy day when the six deceased veterans were received from the care of the coroner at his temporary office in Givens Community Center in Port Orchard. More than 50 motorcyclists and other concerned veterans arrived to join the procession.
Having never done this before, Bentsen and Carroll made some impromptu decisions, which have evolved into traditions: the deceased will be carried by a veteran to the hearse vehicle; pallbearer will be accompanied by an active duty member; on the way to Tahoma, the deceased will be accompanied by an unopened bottle of cognac, a cigar, and the U.S. Flag; the hearse will be black with a premium name badge or an antique in immaculate condition; and the hearse will be in the ‘cradle’ of Combat Veterans International.
The second event didn’t occur until 2011 and became a collaboration of county’s Veterans Advisory Board, County Coroner’s Office and Combat Veterans International. The location and date were changed to the coroner’s office and to the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend. A Celebration of Life ceremony was created with music, eulogy, and prayer. That same year, Vietnam Veterans/Legacy Veterans started the tradition of providing simple, wooden urns for each deceased.
At the Veterans Advisory Board June 2011 meeting, the board moved to hold the event every year providing that there was a least one, unclaimed deceased veteran in the care of the county coroner. In 2012, the first veteran who was not unclaimed was included in the event at the request of the surviving family.
During the fall 2012, at the request of KCVAP, the coroner’s office reviewed records of unclaimed deceased who were buried prior to 2008. Twenty-one veterans and one widow were identified and recovered from Silverdale Community Cemetery for The Unforgotten, Run to Tahoma IV on May 25, 2103. In addition two surviving families submitted relatives.
“We currently have six deceased, of which only one is unclaimed,” Bentsen said of this year’s event. “The other five have been submitted by family or friends. It includes two brothers, one who passed away last fall, the other last month.
“People wanting to continue with us to Tahoma, should enter the county campus area at Taylor on Sidney,” Bentsen added. “They will be guided to designated funeral procession assembly area parking.”
The Run to Tahoma funeral cortege is under the auspices of Combat Veterans International and not Kitsap County, Bentsen noted.
“Everyone is invited to join the cortege, however participants are responsible for their own individual liability in case of accident or injury to themselves or others,” he said.