DENVER—A World War II veteran who died in prison after pleading guilty to killing his wife will be buried at Fort Logan National Cemetery over the objections of some other vets.
About 30 people attended a ceremony for Raymond R. Sawyer at the cemetery in Denver Tuesday. A veterans’ color guard performed a 21-gun salute and a bagpiper played during the ceremony.
Sawyer will be buried later in the day.
He died Aug. 11 at age 83 in an Arizona state prison, where he was serving 13 years for second-degree murder.
Arizona officials say Sawyer’s case wasn’t considered a capital offense, the only level of crime that bars a veteran from burial in a national cemetery.
Another veterans’ color guard refused to participate in Sawyer’s ceremony.
