ELSMERE, Ky. — Officials are working to return a grave marker found in Elsmere to a military veteran's burial site in Jeffersonville, Indiana.
The Elsmere Police Department said a person was clearing out brush near their property line on Plateau Street when they found a grave marker for Robert James "Moose" Mackison. The Indiana native was killed in combat during the Korean War in 1950 at age 21.
"The marker belongs to an American War Hero who earned a Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, Korean Service Medal, United States Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Korean War Service Medal," the department said in a release.
James Vieira, the former quartermaster at the Ralph Fulton VFW, noted Mackison's accomplishments at such a young age and said it was important his headstone be returned to its rightful place.
"I did 20 years in the military and I don't have half of the awards he's got," Vieira said. "If I passed away tomorrow, I could get a headstone from the veterans' cemetery too ... that we deserve from Veterans Affairs, but this (headstone) here needs to be properly placed. He deserves it."
Police said there are no records showing any family member of Mackison owned the property where the marker was found, and the Walnut Ridge Cemetery in Jeffersonville was confused as to why a duplicate marker would be in Elsmere.
The marker is at the department as police work with the VA and VFW to get it back to where it belongs.
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