Serina Vine passes

Hack Stone sends us a link from the Washington Post that tells the story of Serina Vine, a 91-year-old World War II Navy veteran. When her time in the Navy ended in 1946, she graduated from college at the University of California at Berkeley in 1954, then her life was a big blank until it picks up in 1995 when she found living on the streets of DC and warehoused at the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Community Living Center in Washington suffering from dementia.

William Jones, a retired Marine who works at Quantico, discovered that there would be only four people attending her funeral when she passed recently so he called Major Jaspen Boothe, who had been homeless herself after Hurricane Katrina. Boothe took to social media and notified folks of the funeral and more than 200 showed up the other day;

[W]hen Boothe arrived at the cemetery, cars were backed up about a half a mile. She thought that there must be multiple events happening at that time. But no, they were all there for Vine.

“It was like a pinnacle moment to show how veterans come together for veterans,” Boothe said. “We are connected through our service and through our sacrifice. Look around now, she has 200 or so family members. As long as you’re a veteran you have friends and family everywhere and you’re never alone.”

From ABCNews;

Martin Fuller of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs painted a similar picture. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Fuller. “I felt like I had to go because I didn’t think anyone was going to show up. The information just went viral.”

Fuller met Vine in the VA Community Living Center, where he appointed her a legal custodian. He says that because her discharge and service papers were missing, little more is known about where she served and what her responsibilities were.

Still, she was laid to rest with full military honors, including a 21-gun salute, at the Quantico National Cemetery.

Category: We Remember