FLORENCE-Military honors services for U.S. Army Lieutenant Darrell Arlen Russel, a WW II and Prisoner of War (POW) camp survivor was held at his unmarked grave site on 22 November 2019 at 11:00 a.m. at the Greenview Memorial Gardens Cemetery located at 3658 Old Chisholm Road, Florence, Alabama in the Garden of Memories section opposite the cemetery’s mausoleum in Florence.
The American Legion Post 31 Color Guard of Tuscumbia, The Patriot Riders and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 8640 of Sheffield Alabama were co-participants
The ceremony and reading of his war time diary on the day of capture, 22 November 1944:
The added connection as a Veteran and discovering that his final resting place since his demise in 2010 did not bear a military marker of his existence, and service to the nation calls upon us all to be aware of the need to ensure that those who have served receive permanent recognition of national service to this nation, and proof of presence on this earth with a marker or headstone.
There are many similar cases of Veterans resting in unmarked graves through northwest Alabama whose families may have been impacted by financial constraints; a Veteran’s not sharing much about their service life, or a family’s lack of awareness, briefing and procedural guidance of how to secure military entitlements that are free of charge for service rendered to the Nation; and easily resolved through Veterans Administration Service Officer assistance in Florence; hence, the original subject heading “No One Forgotten – No One Un-recognized – No One Without a Marker.”
Media Release/Thomas McKnight
