Mass Burial Held For Over 1,600 LA County Residents

CBS) ^ | December 7, 2011 11:02 AM

[BenLurkin]

The remains of hundreds of Los Angeles County residents whose bodies were never claimed by family or friends were buried in a mass grave Wednesday.

“This holiday season many of us are reminded how fortunate we are to be surrounded by our loved ones,” Supervisor Don Knabe said Tuesday, when he and his colleagues on the Board of Supervisors observed a moment of silence for the people being buried. “Sadly, not everyone shares this blessing.”

He said the 1,639 people designated for the mass interment at the Los Angeles County Crematory and Cemetery “are individuals that, for one reason or another, have no one but the county to provide them with a respectful and dignified burial.”

Knabe described some of the deceased as homeless or poor, many of whom with “no families to grieve for them”.

“Regardless of what their status in life was, each one of their lives matters,” he said. “It matters to us, their county family.”

[stormer]

Difficult to imagine not having someone to mourn ones passing...

[surroundedbyblue]

Aw. How sad. Prayers for these souls & for all others who have no one to pray for them.

Through the mercy of God, may their souls rest in peace.

[verity]

Where in the heck were 1639 bodies stored pending burial?

[Auntie Mame]

Yes, very sad.

And just in case anyone is wondering if the state of California searches very hard for relatives, be advised they search VERY hard because they can force them to pay for the interment—happened to a friend of mine, her ex husband who had nothing to do with his kids, who abandoned her 40 years ago with three small children, died recently, and the State came after the children to make them pay for their so-called “father’s” cremation.

[Timaeus]

Does this happen everywhere? Are there mass grave sites all over the country?

[wordsofearnest]

In our little town back in the 1960’s a homeless man with no family passed away and our Catholic Church held a funeral mass for him and the whole Catholic grade school attended and we buried him in the church cemetery.

[familyop]

Have some keywords irony in them, but not irony according to the public comments of many. The "Occupy" writers and organizers are rich trust fund babies managing the "social unrest" to label all who will fall in the near future, including all who will lose their government and government-linked (e.g., services) employment and pensions. Have fun. Enjoy the slide caused by anti-technical political correctness, anti-American globalism in business politics and bipartisan socialist politics.

And no resources allowed for American men to do business with--not even scrap.

[surroundedbyblue]

Wonderful!

Makes me think of the boys featured in this article:

http://www.americancatholic.org/samo/Feature.aspx?articleid=57&IssueID=30

[Lurking Libertarian]

Does this happen everywhere? Are there mass grave sites all over the country?

In New York City, unclaimed dead people are buried on Hart Island (prisoners from the City's jails dig the graves). There are similar sites in most big cities; Google "Potter's Field."

[familyop]

...some keywords with irony in them, even. Little correction there.

[allmendream]

Cocaine is a hellava drug.

Alcohol is a hellava drug.

Insanity is a hellava illness.

[stormer]

No question about that, and that to whatever extent, a certain percentage of these individuals are in part to blame for their lot. That said, few would chose the loneliness and dispair of an unmarked mass grave...

[BenLurkin]

If it were in my power, I would remove most of those keywords.

[donozark]

The Missing in America Project has buried hundreds of unclaimed remains of veterans. Nationwide. A very worthwhile project indeed...

[allmendream]

Not sure how much culpability an insane person has - and point well taken.

My point is that it is usually a long hard road that leads to total abandonment by all friends and family - and usually drugs (alcohol) and insanity play a major role.

My uncle pointed out about my crazy Grandmother (his mom) that “if she had a bad leg we wouldn’t make fun of her and call her “gimpy”.”. But because she is abrasive, abusive and bat guano crazy.....

[patriot08]

How sad. Prayers for these poor souls.

[treetopsandroofs]

Sounds like a major opportunity to launder some bodies whose lives were illicitly ended prematurely.

[AceMineral]

Several years ago there was an article about this in the Wall Street Journal. It was both amusing and sad.

[familyop]

"If it were in my power, I would remove most of those keywords."

Thank you (sincerely). Those four keywords show the way that I was once looked upon by employers and other local leaders (dirty. lazy, thieving dogs in organized crime, all). Several different potential employers told me that they weren't interested in hiring me but would rather my wife applied. Some also told me that they wouldn't hire any man who was in the Guard. And no, they didn't know my wife. And two of them were Vietnam vets--one a former high ranking officer in the Navy, and the other, admin staff NCO.

Then there are the regulations that bind us from starting and doing business--even in remote areas. We're morally bankrupt as a nation. Welcome the default and decline to come. It's a needed correction. Big government cannot be sustained with a worthless currency and without a large manufacturing base.

The truth is ugly isn't it. Screw politics. Nonpolitical politics is the way to go (see the freeing of Czechoslovakia, Poland).