The body of PFC Thomas E. Hartung was exhumed June 8, 2000 and buried closer to his New Lenox, Illinois home. Hartung, whose name Post 1977 of the American Legion carries, died on Feb. 24, 1966 during combat in Vietnam. He would have celebrated his 20th birthday on Mar. 12, 1966. Hartung died instantly of a gunshot wound to the head from hostile small arms fire. He died while on a search and destroy operation. The post chose Tom E. Hartung as its namesake because he was the only soldier from New Lenox, IL killed in action in Vietnam. The Army awarded Hartung the Purple Heart posthumously.
Hartung's body was in the Rock Island (IL) National Cemetery since Mar.
9, 1966. Family members have had difficulty visiting the grave
site some 80 miles away. On Oct. 3, 1999, Abraham Lincoln National
Cemetery became the 117th national cemetery, with burial operations beginning
Oct. 12, 1999. During Apr. 2000, Hartung's uncle began making preliminary
inquiries about moving his nephew's body to the newly opened National Cemetery
in Elwood, Illinois. The post endorsed the idea. After Hartung's
niece in Indianapolis, Indiana gave the final approval, the process moved
quickly. The post jumped at the idea out of respect for the family.
Kurtz Memorial Chapel of New Lenox, IL donated its services and transported
the body from Rock Island. Kurtz also performed the burial at the
Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery.
On June 9, 2000, Post 1977's fallen hero, draped under the stars and
stipes once again, was interred at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery.
Post 1977's color guard took part in the ceremony, as did the firing squad
from the Post's Sons of The American Legion Squadron. A Lincoln-Way
High School band member and a member from The American Legion Band (Post
1080) both played Taps. Representatives from several area veteran
organizations also participated in the ceremony. In attendance at
the ceremony were the following: (1) the Second Division of The American
Legion Auxiliary, (2) The American Legion Will County Council, (3) Harwood,
IL American Legion Post 5, (4) The American Legion Post 935, (5)
The American Legion Post 392, (6) the Will County, Illinois DAV #103, (7)
the New Lenox, Illinois VFW Post 9545, (8) the Stone City, IL VFW Post
2199, and (9) two color guard units from Joliet (IL) High School Army ROTC
program. After the ceremony, the post sponsored an open-bar and complementary
luncheon at the post for the Hartung family and all participants.
Hartung enlisted in the Army on Aug. 19, 1963, while attending classes at Lincoln-Way High School in New Lenox, IL. Hartung, a veteran of 2½ years military service, spent 13 months in Korea before going to Vietnam. PFC Hartung was home on military furlough in mid-December 1965. He left home Dec. 20 to go to the west coast, from where he left for Vietnam in the afternoon on Christmas Day.
- Paul Zola, Cmdr.
American Legion Post 1977
New Lenox, Illinois