DES MOINES, Iowa —

Early next month, a local nonprofit will lay 13 more unclaimed central Iowa veterans to rest, including two who served in World War I.

The Final Salute will hold its eighth service on Saturday, Oct. 4, at Lutheran Church of Hope in Waukee, with a burial to follow at the Iowa Veterans Cemetery.

The group of 13 veterans they will lay to rest this year is the second most ever, only trailing last year’s number of 20.

The year’s group of heroes is made up of five Army, four Navy, and four Air Force veterans.

These are brave individuals who, for one reason or another, were not claimed when they died. Many of their cremated remains have been on the shelves of funeral homes for decades.

One military spouse will also be buried.

Lanae Strovers, the president and founder of

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