SABINE PARISH, La. (KTAL/KMSS) — The daughter of a Vietnam veteran wants answers after someone stole her father’s military service medals from his Sabine Parish grave.
“People are already hurting and to take something that means nothing to no one else off someone’s grave is cruel,” said Kelley Masters, who was visiting her dads’ gravestone on March 20 at Cassell Cemetery when she noticed her dad’s service medals were missing from his headstone.
“The first symbol was the 1st Calvary, which was his battalion, and the second was his Purple Heart, which he got for being injured in war, and the third one was the Bronze Star, which he got for bravery and heroism.”
She was furious when she saw this and figured someone stole them to sell, but the medals have no resale value and it is illegal to sell them.
“I was angry, they are just bronze plated. So they are not really worth a whole lot other than the fact that they mean a lot to us as his family,” Masters said as she began to tear up. “People need to be aware that while they take things, they need to realize that people are already suffering. Don’t make them suffer more.”
Cassell Cemetery President Diana Raborn said theft has become an issue in the area and they are considering putting a camera system up.
“I think it’s terrible. When anyone robs a grave that’s about as low as you can get in my opinion. People take things off of the graves. Ornaments or different keepsakes people put on them. We don’t know who does that so it is nothing we can do,” Raborn said.
Masters said her father was very private about his time in the military, but the theft of his medals from his final resting place reminds her of one conversation she had with him about how he was treated once he got back from war.
“He did tell us that he was spat on when he comes home so I guess that was the equivalent of what I felt like when they took them. That they had just spit all over him,” Masters said.
The Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office is investigating the theft. Masters said her father’s medals will be replaced but she wants to share a warning for others with loved ones in the cemetery.
The anniversary of her father’s death is coming up in April. Masters says she will monitor the area more often going forward.