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NBC5'S NATHANIEL REED WAS ON HAND TODAY FOR THE FIRST BURIAL UNDER THE NEW LAW. <TRT: 1:41> <GEORGE BREWER// PATRIOT GUARD RIDERS: THESE ARE PEOPLE WHO FOUGHT FOR US ? AND WE DESERVE EVERY LITTLE BIT OF HONOR WE CAN GIVE THEM> In Randolph ? a procession of patriots guard riders ? guarding over the remains of a long departed World War II veteran <TOM GIFFIN//PRESIDENT, VERMONT OLD CEMETERIES ASSOCIATION: AS FAR AS A PICTURE I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING. BUT WE DO KNOW HE WAS A ? WW II NAVY VETERAN AND HE HAD BEEN SITTING IN THE FUNERAL HOME FOR OVER 20 YEARS> We don't know much about Fredrick E Armstrong -- he had no family when he died in Southern Vermont in 1997. For 22 years? < TOM GIFFIN//PRESIDENT, VERMONT OLD CEMETERIES ASSOCIATION: HE SAT ON A SHELF ? IN A FUNERAL HOME> Untouched and Unclaimed by family Under Vermont law ? there was nothing they could do < TOM GIFFIN//PRESIDENT, VERMONT OLD CEMETERIES ASSOCIATION: BY LAW THEY COULDN'T RELEASE THE REMAINS BECAUSE THERE WAS NO FAMILY MEMBERS > So veterans, advocates, and the legislature got to work ? and found ? an outpouring of support <ROBERT HOOPER // (D) CHITTENDEN-6-1: I STOPPED GETTING COSPONSORS CAUSE I WAS RUNNING OUT OF PAPER> Act 9 -- passed unanimously by the house and senate earlier this year and was signed by the governor. Armstrong -- the first burial under the new law < GEORGE BREWER// PATRIOT GUARD RIDERS: I DOUBT THERE WAS ANYONE HERE WHO REMEMBERED THIS MAN. AND TO SEE ALL THESE FOLKS? ITS HEARTWARMING> < ROBERT HOOPER // (D) CHITTENDEN-6-1: YOU NEVER KNOW THE INDIVIDUAL SOLDIER THAT STANDS TO PROTECT YOUR FREEDOM. YOU DON'T NEED TO, YOU JUST NEED TO KNOW PEOPLE WERE THERE ? MAYBE HE DIDN'T DIE IN WWII BUT HE SERVED, WITH HONOR, HE DESERVES THIS. > Under the guard of patriots he never knew, ARMSTRONG

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On Friday, over 20 years after Navy veteran Frederick Armstrong died, his ashes were laid to rest at the Vermont Veterans Cemetery in Randolph. According to Tossing Funeral Home, Armstrong was predeceased by his family, which meant the funeral home was unable to release his ashes for burial. According to Tom Giffin, president of the Vermont Old Cemeteries Association, until last year, there was legally nothing the funeral home could do. "By law, they couldn’t release the remains because there was no family members," he told NBC5. Until Friday, he said, Armstrong's ashes "sat on a shelf, in a funeral home."Last year, Giffin enlisted the help of freshman state Rep. Robert Hooper, D-Chittenden-6-1, to pass a bill to allow the remains of unclaimed veterans, such as Armstrong, to be buried in the Vermont Veterans Cemetery.Hooper's bill, Act 9, easily won bipartisan and "tri-partisan" support in the State House. "I stopped getting co-sponsors 'cause I was running out of paper," Hooper said.Act 9 unanimously passed the Vermont House and Senate earlier this year and was signed into law by Gov. Phil Scott in a ceremony. On Friday, the Patriot Guard Riders were one of several groups that turned out to pay their respects to Armstrong, who is the first veteran to be buried under the new law."These are people who fought for us, and they deserve every little bit of honor we can give them," said George Brewer, the Vermont state captain of the Patriot Guard Riders. "I doubt there was anyone here who remembered this man. And to see all these folks, it's heartwarming," he said."(Armstrong) deserves this," declared Hooper, one of several politicians in attendance on Friday. "Maybe he didn’t die in World War II but he served, with honor."Surrounded by members of Veterans of Foreign Wars posts, Patriot Guard Riders and members of the public whom he never knew, Armstrong was finally laid to rest.