Approximately 80 years after initially being buried with military honors, Staff Sergeant (SSgt.) Paul Arthur Heggemeier will once again be laid to rest with military honors this Saturday, Oct. 11, at 1 p.m. at Blakely Cemetery in Madison.
His death was confirmed on June 25, 1945, when the War Department confirmed he had passed away on June 29, 1942, while a Japanese prisoner on the Philippine Island. His remains were initially recovered and buried with military honors in 1945. However, additional remains were identified which necessitated the exhumation of his remains in July, for further anthropological analysis in Honolulu, Hawaii.
SSgt. Haggemeier will be escorted from the Kansas City Airport to Koup Family Funeral Home, in Eureka, on Wednesday, Oct. 8. Members of the Patriot Guard will assist in escorting SSgt. Heggemeier to his final resting place on Saturday, Oct. 11. Plans are for the procession to leave Koup Family Funeral Home at 11:30 a.m. A full obituary can be found on page 4.
