The California State Honor Guard and the Travis Air Force Base Honor guard performed the flag presentation ceremony at the burials of Chris R. Erickson and Kenneth W. J. Evans on Monday, May 18, 2009. Photo courtesy of the United Veterans Council Military Funeral Honors Team.

LAKEPORT – In Lakeport's Hartley Cemetery there is a special spot reserved for local veterans.

It's known as Veterans Circle.

In 2006, the United Veterans Council Military Funeral Honors Team – a devoted band of military brothers and sisters who offer funerary honors for local veterans – created the space.

Originally, its aim was for indigent veterans. While it's since been opened up to all veterans, those without means or family still comprise most of those laid to rest there.

It's also a place of commemoration for all veterans. Flag-raising ceremonies are held there on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, and memorial wreaths are laid there in December as part of the annual “Wreaths Across America” commemoration.

Just this past week, two more veterans were honored at the circle.

The Military Funeral Honors Team reported that Chris R. Erickson, a veteran of the U.S. Army, and Kenneth W. J. Evans, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, were laid to rest in Veterans Circle on May 18.

The men's family weren't present, but they did have many friends – many of whom they may never have met.

Those friends included the county's many veterans organizations, the Missing in America Program, Patriot Guard Riders, Operation Tango Mike and the Lake County Veterans Service Office who were present to pay their respects.

The Military Funeral Honors Team provided the eulogy, three volley rifle salute and the playing of “Taps.”

The California State Honor Guard and the Travis Air Force Base Honor guard were on hand to fold the veterans' US flags.

Those flags were then presented to the Avenue of Flags, and will fly over Hartley as part of the annual display on Memorial Day on Monday.

Erickson and Evans join fellow veterans including George Elder, Lawrence Quinn and Robert Kincaid.

Elder, who died May 26, 2008, was buried a month later, on June 24. He served in the US Air Force from 1957 to 1961, and his friend and neighbor, Terre Logsdon, accepted his flag.

Quinn and Kincaid, both Navy vets laid to rest in the circle on Oct. 11, 2008.

Quinn served during the Korean War and died Sept. 11, 2008. The ashes of Kincaid, who died in 2003, were unclaimed for five years before the Missing in America Project assisted with obtaining his cremains for burial, as Lake County News has reported.

Since their burials, the families of Elder and Kincaid discovered the men's whereabouts.

In the case of Kincaid, his son, Texas resident Ron Simpson, who was separated from his father in childhood, credited the Missing in America Project for its efforts on behalf of vets. An Internet search led him to the story, posted last fall, of his father's burial.

Hartley Cemetery is located at 2552 Hill Road, Lakeport.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Honor guard members fold the flags of Chris R. Erickson and Kenneth W. J. Evans on Monday, May 18, 2009. Photo courtesy of the United Veterans Council Military Funeral Honors Team.

Members of the Patriot Guard Riders on their way to the burials of Chris R. Erickson and Kenneth W. J. Evans on Monday, May 18, 2009, at Veterans Circle at Hartley Cemetery in Lakeport. Photo courtesy of the United Veterans Council Military Funeral Honors Team.