Brian Heyman points to the memorial plaque bearing his father’s name.
My father, Arthur A. Heyman, a WWII Veteran who served in the U.S. Navy as a Bosun’s Mate on the USS Bairoko (CVE 115) an escort carrier, died on Jan. 10 at almost 94 years of age.
He was a member of that greatest generation who went off to war, and if they were lucky enough to come home, got on with their lives.
My father went to trade school on the G.I. Bill, became a television and radio repair technician, married, bought a home and together with my mom raised 11 children. He worked two jobs for many years to support his family.
Like most men of that generation, my father didn’t talk much about the war or his time in the Navy when I was a child. I do remember my father sharing about how much he loved the ocean and what a thrill it was to be at the helm of an aircraft carrier and to feel it move beneath his feet as he turned the wheel.
Before he died my father did make his wishes known that he wanted his body cremated and the ashes scattered at sea.
On June 25, my siblings and I along with extended family, some 30 of us in all, boarded a yacht at Huntington Harbor after a U.S. Navy honor guard escort and taps, sailed out past the breakwater and carried out my father’s wishes.
Arthur Heyman’s memorial plaque is one of many at the Los Angeles National Cemetery.
Los Angeles National Cemetery Plaques and palm trees
About a month before, I attended a veterans outreach event at Bob Hope Patriotic Hall in Los Angeles, where I met Cemetery Representative Pablo Agrio of Los Angeles National Cemetery (LANC). I shared with Agrio our family’s plan to carry out my father’s wish to have his ashes scattered at sea, but asked if he was also eligible for a niche in the new columbarium wall at LANC, so that there would be a physical place to visit and remember my father.
Agrio explained that LANC provides memorial plaques for veterans whose remains are not available for interment in the cemetery, such as when ashes are scattered at sea. He briefly explained the process and the documents to submit and gave me his card to make an appointment to order a memorial plaque for my father.
Copies of the following documents are needed to order a memorial plaque: the Veteran’s DD214; death certificate; burial or scattering permit; and a certificate showing the location in longitude and latitude where the ashes were scattered.
My wife and I gathered these documents and met with Agrio at LANC to order my father’s memorial plaque. Family members of the veteran have some say in the inscription on the plaque, but it must begin with “In Memory Of…”
There is also a list of religious and other symbols from which to choose that can be inscribed on the plaque. We chose the “Landing Eagle” as my father was not religious. One of the tattoos he got as a sailor was of an eagle so that seemed appropriate.
Within a couple of weeks after meeting with Pablo and giving final approval of the inscription, I received an email from the National Cemetery Administration informing me that the memorial plaque had been set.
My wife and I drove to LANC the next day and saw my father’s memorial plaque for the first time. It is quite impressive. The plaque is made of white marble and is mounted on a column of the new columbarium wall along with those of many other Veterans of WWII.
My father’s memorial plaque will be maintained in perpetuity and my siblings and I have a beautiful and dignified setting to visit to remember our father and honor his service.
If you are interested in ordering a memorial plaque at LANC, email Pablo Agrio at pablo.agrio@va.gov or call him at (310) 268-4675. There is no cost to the family.
Brian Heyman is a Congressional Liaison in the California Delegation of the National Legislative Council of the American Legion and a life member of Post 270 in Downey
A plaque at the Los Angeles National Cemetery reads “In Memory of” Heyman Arthur A., U.S. Navy, World War II, Jan. 27, 1928 to Jan. 10, 2022. USS Bairoko CVE 115
Author: caLegion Contributor
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