Dallas Fort-Worth National Cemetery inters an average of 40 "unclaimed" veterans a year who were either homeless, lost contact with their family or died in a nursing home without next of kin. Unfortunately, that is not unusual around the country.

On Wednesday, the cemetery gave 20 veterans honorable burials, WFAA 8 ABC News reports. Unfortunately, 12 of those veterans did not have family present, remaining "unclaimed" — a sad, but common reality.

Retired Air Force Master Sgt. Bobby Ray Gleason, 71, was going to be the thirteenth until a last-ditch effort to locate family members paid off. 

Investigators do everything they can to find the families of veterans, with varied success. In some cases, a last minute effort is made by putting names of the deceased on air, in the off chance that anyone who knows them will hear.

Thankfully, when Gleason's name aired on WFAA, his cousin in Dallas was listening, and immediately called Margie Johnson, Gleason's younger sister.

"I didn't sleep a bit. I tossed and turned all night long," Johnson said, adding that she was ready to call the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office the minute they opened Wednesday morning. Decades old questions about his whereabouts were finally answered.

According to WFAA, Gleason lost contact with his family around the time of his mother's death and his retirement from the military three decades ago. Investigators were unable to contact any other relevant family members. 

Unable to make the trip on short notice, Johnson viewed a live feed of the burial from her home computer. Johnson told WFAA she is thankful for the honorable burial. "That means the world to me. Because he was actually being honored today. It's sad for me, but it's a blessing also that they thought that much."

Rachael Kalinyak is an editorial intern with Network Solutions.

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