Well Done, Marine

In October 2014, Anthony L. Colantonio died.   He was cremated.

His third wife was the only person at his memorial service.  She was given his cremains afterwards.

About a year later, his third wife also died.

Last month, a former Marine – Charles “Mike” Gustin – found both the cremains and Mr. Colantionio’s death certificate.  They had been placed in a box; the box had been discarded in an alley, like common trash.

Mr. Gustin contacted local police, but they said they were unable to help. Local sanitation workers refused to pick up the cremains.

So Mr. Gustin decided he’d find Mr. Colantonio’s next-of-kin himself – and offer to return the cremains to them.

It turns out that Mr. Colantonio had a daughter named Tracy. However, Tracy hadn’t seen her father in 25 years.  She’d been separated from and out-of-touch with her father since she was 6, apparently due to a divorce.

Nonetheless, Mr. Gustin was able to locate Mr. Colantonio’s daughter Tracy relatively quickly.  He contacted her; she indeed wanted her father’s  cremains.

On Valentine’s Day of this year, Mr. Gustin delivered Mr. Colantionio’s cremains to his daughter.

This Fox News article has more details. If you choose to read it, you might want to have a tissue or two handy.

Well done, Marine.   Damn well done.

Category: Marine Corps, Real Soldiers