Pueblo family raising money to bring Air Force veteran's remains back to Colorado

Corrections & Clarifications: This story has been updated to reflect the correct time and date for Alvin Pugh's funeral.

A Pueblo family is attempting to raise $20,000 to bring an Air Force veteran's remains back to Colorado.

Patti Pugh, sister of USAF veteran Alvin J. Pugh, told the Chieftain that she found out in mid-March that her brother had passed away due to deep vein thrombosis — essentially a large blood clot that traveled to the lungs — on Feb. 2, 2022, in New York City.

His remains were not buried until Feb. 1, 2023, in Calverton National Cemetery in Wading River, New York. For two years, the Pugh family said they were never notified of their loved one's death.

Before his death, Alvin Pugh was in constant communication with his family, sharing videos, jokes, observations, and whatever was on his mind that day, often early in the morning, Patti Pugh said. When he went silent, the family grew worried and attempted to locate him.

"We looked up all the hospitals in New York, the five boroughs — my sister got half the list and I got half the list, and we called every single one, including the VA hospital," Pugh said. "Nothing. So we started searching, contacted a private investigator ... anything that would pop up," she said.

Despite an exhaustive search that included contacting the NYPD, the Department of Veteran's Affairs, and other sources, Pugh could not be found for two years. In March, Pugh said that in a few minutes of downtime, she started searching online for her brother.

"I started with a Google search, and searched his name and New York City, and the first thing that popped up was 'find a grave,'" she said. "It's weird because his date of death was Feb. 2, 2022, but they didn't bury him until Feb. 1, 2023. So he must have spent a year just lying in a morgue."

Additionally, Pugh's remains were marked as "unclaimed," despite his family contact information and Colorado address having never changed since he was discharged from the Air Force in 1995, Pugh said.

"Pueblo is around 2% black; we have a name like Pugh, which is a very unique name. You can't tell me that you tried to find the Pughs that have been in Pueblo, Colorado, for 60 years — if you look in the phone book, there are only two families," said Kennedy Pugh, Alvin's brother. "It's not that they dropped the ball, they didn't even pick it up."

"They knew his name, they knew he was military — enough to bury him in a national cemetery. How could you not find his family? You Google his name, and we all pop up," Kennedy Pugh said.

Kennedy Pugh also emphasized that the family is spiritual and his brother was a devout Catholic.

"I've never been so hurt, sad and angry my whole life," he said. "Both of those don't come from my brother's death, because we believe he has crossed over to a better place, but it's about being able to acknowledge somebody for the path they walked with you, especially after spending 17 years in the military."

The family is seeking to raise $20,000 to have his remains disinterred and given a Catholic burial in Colorado, as well as to locate his vehicle, although the family has since found out that the possessions in Alvin's apartment were thrown out following his death.

VA responds, says it's 'working directly' with Pugh's family

"Our hearts go out to this Veteran’s family for the loss of their loved one, and we at VA are working directly with them to help them through this challenging situation however we can," VA Press Secretary Terrence Hayes told the Chieftain in an emailed statement.

"(The) VA believes that every Veteran deserves a dignified burial," Hayes said. "This includes Veterans whose remains go unclaimed at the time of their deaths. VA works with funeral homes, coroner’s offices, and medical examiner’s offices across the country to ensure that the unclaimed remains of Veterans are interred in VA national cemeteries or in VA grant-funded state Veterans cemeteries."

On March 9, 2022, the New York City Department of Veterans Services requested a determination of eligibility for a burial at Calverton National Cemetery for Alvin Jerome Pugh, according to Hayes.

"VA records confirmed that Mr. Pugh was a Veteran eligible for interment in a national cemetery, and (The National Cemetery Association) informed NYCDVS of this the same day," Hayes said. "On February 15, 2023, a funeral home requested interment at Calverton National Cemetery. On February 21, 2023, the cemetery interred the Veteran."

Hayes said the NYCDVS "routinely contacts" the National Cemetery Association to request internment of unclaimed veterans in the custody of the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, but in "unclaimed remains cases such as this, attempts to locate and contact family should be completed in accordance with state and local laws before entities seeking to bury unclaimed individuals make requests to VA for interment in any national cemetery."

Regarding the possibility of providing for disinterment and reburial in Colorado, Hayes stated that the NCA, NYCDVS, and the NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner are researching the case and hope to soon have more information.

"We will work directly with the family when we make this determination," he said.

Despite the VA's response, Patti Pugh said she still has questions about her brother's treatment.

"What was their process to locate their next of kin? I have the death certificate, it says, 'Mother unknown, father unknown, place of birth unknown,' But the VA had his name, date of birth, and social security number. I'm sure they had the place he enlisted, which is the house he lived in," she said. "And why was it from March 9, 2022, when they confirmed he was a veteran, clear until a year later that he was buried?"

The Pugh family intends to hold a funeral for their brother at St. Joseph's Church on April 19 at 1 p.m. with military honors conducted at Pike's Peak National Cemetery at a later date. In the meantime, they will continue to raise money on GoFundMe.

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This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo's Pugh family raising money to bring brother's remains to Colorado