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200 attend funeral of Korean vet who died without family

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LONGMONT, Colo. (AP) -- A Korean War veteran from Colorado who died without relatives to arrange his funeral has been laid to rest with full military honors after a funeral home stepped in to help.

The Times-Call reports that Carroll-Lewellen Funeral & Cremation donated the casket and about $6,000 in services for U.S. Army Sgt. Robert P. Buddecke's funeral on Thursday at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver.

Word of the donation spread and about 200 people, many of them veterans, attended the service.

Assistant cemetery director Kevin Johnson says it felt like everyone there was his family.

Renita Henson worked with Buddecke as a nurse. She said he was most proud of being his second wife's caregiver before she died.

The government provided the plot, headstone and casket vault.

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