SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — Camp Butler held a special ceremony Wednesday to honor and remember our fallen veterans.

12 veterans without family and three veterans whose family never claimed their remains were laid to rest at the national cemetery in Springfield this morning.

Those veterans were buried with full military honors including taps and a 21-gun salute, even without any loved ones present. A crowd gathered to honor them.

“It strikes very deep within me because I’m single, I have no family here, and I often worry that someday I may be an unclaimed veteran,” Chirstopher Webster, Assistant Cemetery Director at Camp Butler, said. “So this service, I put a lot of effort into it; our staff puts a lot of effort into it to recognize these individuals.”

The unaccompanied ceremony is held every six months in April and October.