62-year-old Vietnam War Veteran Walter Ralph West, who also served in Desert Storm and Desert Shield, died last December. His last wish was to be buried at sea. Almost a year later, that wish hasn't been fulfilled.
"I signed his wish to be buried at sea, because he spent his whole life in the military," Walter's son Bill West says.
Bill's father, Walter Ralph West Jr., was a fun loving, family man and he loved his country. He served 25 years in the Navy and in the end died of lung disease.
"It's a betrayal for me and my family, for them to let a hollowed tradition in the Navy lapse," Bill exclaims.
In accordance with Walter's last request, the family says his ashes were first brought to the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth in January. In October, the family was told the ashes had been taken to sea, but the family started doing some checking and found out that wasn't the case at all.
The remains of Walter West are apparently still at the Naval Medical Center, ten months later.
Bill became suspicious, because he had not received the American flag and the pictures of the burial at sea ceremony, like what he received when Walter's wife had her burial at sea. He called the USS Nicholas, which supposedly took the ashes to sea, and was told there was no record of a Walter West burial at sea.
Bill then called the Burial at Sea Office at the Naval Medical Center.
"The guy there stated my father's remains were still there, and there was a Walter West on the computer above him and those remains could have been sent instead," Bill explains.
Apparently, there were three Walter Wests in the computer for burial. Bill's father was not taken to sea after all and now Bill isn't sure if the remains at the hospital are his father's.
Bill said, "I feel my father has been treated very disrespectfully. If those are his remains, they were either misplaced, lost or forgotten. He was a dedicated Veteran in two wars and deserves better treatment than that. My family deserves better. My family has had no closure."
Wavy.com called the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth. Spokeswoman Deborah Kallgren told us that the Decedent Affairs has the father's ashes, and when they told the family he was buried at sea earlier this year, they had mistakenly pulled the wrong 'West' file.
The ashes are not lost, but wrong information was relayed to the family that made them think the ashes have been taken to sea, when in fact they had not.
The family is skeptical. "Personally I find this hard to believe, because things don't disappear and re-appear. Are these ashes our ashes? Are these his remains?," Bill West asks.
The West family has now been told USS Enterprise will take Walter's ashes to sea if it is approved. Walter West wanted an aircraft carrier take his remains.
The West family said they hope the USS Enterprise or another carrier will take the ashes to sea, fulfilling Walter West's last request.
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