Honoring a Marine

Joseph Jackson Gwatney died June 8 in Williamson County.  The remains of this  71-year-old United States Marine Corps veteran were left unclaimed by family members.  With nobody to claim the body, Tara Strain, a Senior Patient Representative at Seton Medical Center Williamson, where Gwatney died, got on the case, tracking down three of his friends and getting Cook-Walden Davis Funeral Home in Georgetown involved.   Today, a memorial service was held to honor Gwatney at the funeral home.   For a man with no family, he got a good sendoff.   A Marine Corps Honor Guard was on hand, presenting his friends (opening photo) with an American flag.   The final photo shows Larry Eason, one of Gwatney’s friends, holding the urn with Gwatney’s ashes as he gets ready to leave after the service.   Eason, a long-haul truck driver, plans to take the urn with him to spread his friend’s remains all over the country.  These photos go with a Joyce May story in the Williamson County Sun.