TULSA, Okla. — The family of a Green Country veteran called the Problem Solvers after they learned the National Cemetery Association was considering exhuming his grave at Fort Gibson National Cemetery nearly a month after his burial.
Chrissy Lewis is the proud daughter of Vietnam Veteran.
“Losing. him was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever been through," Chrissy Lewis said. She keeps her father's memory alive by honoring his service to our country.
“He served over 20 years in the Air Force," Lewis said.
She also remembers the lasting impact he left in her life.
“I’m wearing his shirt… so that I can kind of keep him close," Lewis said.
Lewis' father, Lt. Colonel James Lewis, died in September and was laid to rest at the Fort Gibson National Cemetery. She said one of his last wishes was to be buried with his son, Jimmy, who died in a car accident in 2003.
“The cemetery had no idea that my brother’s ashes were in the casket with my dad," Lewis said.
Lewis said the funeral home director didn't tell the National Cemetery Administrators the family laid the father and son to rest together. Lewis said when her mother asked the cemetery to add an inscription for her son in the back of her husband’s headstone, she was told the unexpected.
“They said, 'Well your brother wasn’t a veteran so he’s not eligible to be buried in this cemetery so we’re going to have to dig him up and take out the ashes'," Lewis said.
She turned the 2 News Problem Solvers for help. We contacted the Fort Gibson's Cemetery Administration. They sent us a statement extending condolences to the Lewis Family, along with some good news.
They explained by law, the VA can allow certain people to be laid to rest at a national cemetery, but after receiving a formal request for exception from the Lewis family they are allowing the ashes to remain in the casket.
"You get to stay, you get to stay," Lewis told her father as she stood at his resting place. She said now her family can grieve knowing the father and son will stay together for eternity.
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