Vietnam Vet Died Alone; NJ Funeral Home Gives Him Proper Sendoff

WATERFORD — A South Jersey funeral director made sure that a veteran with no family got the honors he deserved on Friday.

Peter Turnpu will receive full honors Friday at the Brigadier General William C. Doyle Memorial Cemetery, the state operated veterans cemetery in Wrightstown, courtesy of the LeRoy P. Wooster Funeral Home.

Wooster told NBC Philadelphia that while going through his belongings he came across a letter from the Veterans Administration that promised a military funeral despite the government shutdown. Turnpu had no living relatives.

Wooster organized a procession to the cemetery and encouraged people to show up and  give the Vietnam vet a proper sendoff.

The VA said it will provide a military honor guard for Turnpu and pay for the plot. Wooster said he donated a casket.

His one-sentence obituary says only that "the public is invited to honor a Vietnam Veteran with no known family."

Several veterans groups have said they will come to the funeral, Camden County Freeholder Bill Moen told NJ.com.

Wooster told the newspaper that a neighbor found his body at Turnpu's home in the Atco section on Dec. 9.