Nearly a century after his death, a Civil War era soldier finally received a proper burial in San Diego on Thursday.
Army Sgt. Charles Schroeter, who fought for the Union and received the Medal of Honor for his valor during the Indian Wars, was buried in an unmarked communal crypt after his death in 1921. As UT San Diego reports, a couple of veterans started researching his history. Along with the National Cemetery Administration, they couldn't quite figure out why Schroeter was forgotten, but they were able to prove that the remains being kept in that crypt really belonged to the same Schroeter who received the Medal of Honor in 1870.
On Thursday, The Los Angeles Times reports, Schroeter's remains were transferred in a horse-drawn hearse, flanked by Civil War re-enactors. And, finally, Schroeter was buried at the Miramar National Cemetery in San Diego with full military honors.
"[This country] is worth something. It's worth dying for, and a lot of people have done it," Bill Schurmann, a Civil War re-enactor, told UT San Diego. "And these people need to be honored, and their memory needs to be honored. And that's what we do."
We'll leave you with a few pictures of the ceremony:
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