Musings: A dignified farewell to a war veteran
Federal employees at Calverton National Cemetery in Calverton are still on the job amid the government shutdown, a reader writes. Credit: Morgan Campbell
We buried my 92-year-old Korean War veteran father Wednesday on Day 22 of the federal government shutdown.
As we left the funeral home for Calverton National Cemetery, we had no idea what to expect. Our family was greeted by John Cato, the cemetery administrative specialist who told us that he and his fellow employees would work to make sure my father’s ceremony would not be affected by the shutdown.
Cato told us that several employees were on furlough and most of the others were working without pay. Why? He responded simply, “Our mission here is to serve the deceased veteran and his or her family. Nothing else matters.”
It was a perfect and touching ceremony.
In this time of political uncertainty, it is refreshing to know that Cato and his fellow employees are still on the job. The talk of not providing back pay for these people is beyond comprehension.
Let’s hope Washington does the right thing.
— John F. Barone, Lloyd Harbor
WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO JOIN OUR DAILY CONVERSATION. Just go to newsday.com/submitaletter and follow the prompts. Or email your opinion to letters@newsday.com. Submissions should be no more than 200 words. Please provide your full name, hometown, phone number and any relevant expertise or affiliation. Include the headline and date of the article you are responding to. Letters become the property of Newsday and are edited for all media. Due to volume, readers are limited to one letter in print every 45 days. Published letters reflect the ratio received on each topic.
