DES MOINES, Iowa —

The Final Salute for a Union Civil War veteran who died in Des Moines nearly 100 years ago got even better after he was discovered by two of his descendants at the Iowa Veterans Cemetery in Dallas County.

In September of last year, Joseph Chedester was buried with full military honors after his cremated remains were discovered at a funeral home in central Iowa. He had been sitting on the shelf there since 1929.

KCCI brought you this story when the nonprofit The Final Salute announced it had confirmed Chedester's military service in November 2023.

It was their work that led cousins Barbara Aker and Carol Woosley to the IVC in August of this year.

"It started, Carol was going to come from Chicago to visit me in Kansas City, and she was going to go to Marshalltown, Io

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