DENVER (KDVR) – It was a ceremony that was 50 years in the making.

The ashes of 14 Colorado military veterans were interred in a columbarium at Fort Logan National Cemetery in a full military ceremony. They had been abandoned in a mortuary for decades.

“I just can’t imagine how that could happen. That’s how the idea came about,” said Bill Bridges, director of the Honors Burial Project conducted by the Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 1071.

For the past decade, they have been working with Denver-area funeral homes to catalog unclaimed cremated remains, identify who among the deceased are military veterans, and then give them the military burial they earned and deserve.

They worked with Stork-Morley Funeral Home for this most recent project. Of the more than 200 abandoned remains, 27 were identified as veterans.

“There is a family that simply never wants them again. They just follow the process and then say you have to do what you can with them,” said Peter Morley, managing partner of Stork-Morley.

“You can’t get into the minds of that particular veteran’s family members, or what may have been happening in their personal lives at the time the veteran died. We know that several of these veterans did not have a surviving family member,” Bridges said.

Finding the Stories of Colorado Veterans

Once the remains are confirmed to be those of veterans, Bridges and his team work with Carol Helstosky, chair of the history department at the University of Denver, and Elizabeth Escobedo, associate professor, to learn more about their military service. Instructors assign DU history students the task of researching and writing a biography for the veterans, and the information helps the Vietnam Veterans of America with obituary material for the memorial service.

Meanwhile, Colorado Carpenters Guild volunteers work behind the scenes to design and build custom wooden urns for each veteran, all on their own time and at their own expense.

“What we are doing is collecting wood, accepting wood donations and building urns to provide honorable burials for veterans who have been abandoned,” said Jennifer Seim, a volunteer with the guild.

Among the veterans identified on the Stork-Morley shelf was Norman E. Mergler, who died in 1976. Volunteers and students knew very little about him and could not find much information online.

“He kind of disappeared off the face of the earth when he died,” said Evelyn Holden, a DU student assigned to research Mergler’s background.

“He graduated from Pueblo Central High School. He enlisted in the Navy in 1940 and was stationed at Pearl Harbor in early 1941. He was assigned to a destroyer two days after the attack,” said Douglas Joys, Holden’s research partner.

They found little information about Mergler’s life after military service, other than that he was married. And they knew that he had a daughter.

Finding a Veteran’s Connections in Aurora

A few days later, FOX31 was able to locate her at her home in Aurora. And Stephanie Mergler filled in the gaps in her father’s story.

“I had been playing golf and had pain in my left arm. He came home, went to bed, had a heart attack and never regained consciousness,” Mergler said.

He said his mother, Madeleine, was devastated by the death, and that was probably what stopped him from claiming and scattering the ashes 48 years ago.

“My mom would be mad if I talked about it,” Mergler said.

Norman Mergler’s remains have now been moved to their permanent resting place, not far from where his widow is buried, all thanks to the collaboration of veterans, volunteers, students and craftsmen committed to ensuring that American service members receive burial what they deserve.

“The legacy of these veterans is complex and profound,” Helstosky said. “They inspire us to build community, recognize loss, and hope for eternal peace.”