(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Dozens honor Vietnam veteran with no family at Fort Harrison memorial service – Daily Montanan [1] ['Blair Miller', 'More From Author', '- September'] Date: 2023-09-30 Though he had no blood family left in his final years, there were a host of Veterans Affairs workers and volunteers whom George Peterson did call family. On Friday, they and around 100 others who had never met the man laid him to rest in a ceremony with honors at the Montana State Veterans Cemetery in Fort Harrison. George E. Peterson Jr. died July 6 at age 76 at the Southwestern Montana Veterans Home in Butte. Born in Mojave, California, in June 1946, he enlisted as a Marine in October 1966 during the heart of the American ground war in Vietnam. There, he served as an engine equipment mechanic. He served in the Marine Corps until September 1972, leaving the service with a rank of corporal. But his return from Vietnam came at a time when the war was viewed unfavorably by much of the American public, and Marines, soldiers, sailors and airmen who returned were treated poorly. Tanya Hartman, a VA worker who befriended Peterson seven years ago and helped organize Friday’s service, said Peterson had bags of urine thrown at him upon his return. According to Hartman, Peterson’s wife divorced him while he was overseas, then married his brother – another event that eventually led Peterson to start “wandering,” as Hartman put it. It took a while for Peterson to open up to Hartman after they first met seven years ago, but little by little, he started to tell her parts of his story. He suffered from mental illness after his service – likely what would be known as post-traumatic stress disorder in the current day, Hartman said – and eventually moved to Arizona. In October 1991, Peterson was staying at the Mesquite Campground on the Verde River north of Phoenix when a woman named Alice Cameron was killed there. Police arrested Peterson, who was considered to be homeless at the time, and put him through more than 16 hours of interrogation, according to Hartman and published books and news reports. Peterson eventually broke in the interrogation and confessed to killing Cameron, for which he was sentenced to prison. But 14 months after he first went to prison, a teenager who had pleaded guilty to killing nine people at a Buddhist Temple outside Phoenix in August 1991 also admitted to killing Cameron, according to a 1993 Associated Press report and a book from Gary L. Stuart that details the killings and forced confessions called “Innocent Until Interrogated.” “He had such a horrible life, but he was a fighter and a survivor,” Hartman said. It’s possible that most of Peterson’s story could have been forgotten had it not been for Hartman and a handful of others who befriended him at a Veterans Affairs center after noticing he never had any family visit. “Over the last seven years, I’ve just kind of kept George in my family,” Hartman told the crowd gathered to pay their respects Friday afternoon. “He has become family because he didn’t have one.” She said Peterson called her own granddaughter his great niece because he had no family left of his own. He would practice holding a stuffed animal to get ready to hold the young girl after she was born. Peterson also led a veterans’ group at the care facility and was a huge fan of puzzles and Star Wars, those who knew him said Friday. Eventually, due to complications from diabetes, Peterson had both of his legs amputated, and he suffered from pain in his later years, Hartman said. When Peterson was struggling with his physical and mental health, the nurses in Butte would call Hartman to have her come visit and bring back Peterson’s spirit, she said. “There are so many stories I could tell; he was just such an amazing man. And for everything he went through, he’s finally out of pain,” Hartman said. “He’s finally in God’s hands, and he’s looking down.” Fellow veterans, VA workers, honor guard members, and people from around the Helena area stood silent and wept as Marines folded a flag to “Taps” and handed it to a teary Hartman, followed by a 21-gun salute. Several collages of Peterson pictured on his own or with his newfound family, his ashes, a military pin, a Marine Corps ballcap and a tank replica were all neatly put into a marble-faced locker that will soon bear his name and serve as his final resting place. Strangers lined up to offer Hartman their condolences and to thank her for honoring Peterson. Hartman said she was in awe at the support for Peterson at his memorial service, something that “sealed the deal for her about how much Montanans care for their veterans.” Peterson, a humble man, “would have never expected anything like this,” she said. “But this is what he deserved,” Hartman said. “…It was just one tragedy after another, and to see something this amazing – people that don’t know him – my heart is full.” [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/09/30/dozens-honor-vietnam-veteran-with-no-family-at-fort-harrison-memorial-service/ Published and (C) by Daily Montanan Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/montanan/