DENVER - A World War II veteran who died in prison after pleading guilty to killing his wife is scheduled to be buried in Denver's Fort Logan National Cemetery, angering some other veterans.

Raymond R. Sawyer, an ex-Marine from Colorado, will be buried Tuesday. He died Aug. 11 in an Arizona state prison, where he was serving a 13-year term after pleading guilty to 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.

Critics also say Sawyer once claimed to have received the Navy Cross, the Navy's second-highest medal for valor. A group chartered by Congress to track valor medals says it found no evidence to support Sawyer's claim.



Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/08/23/20100823colorado-ve-gets-national-cemetery-plot.html#ixzz0xTcHjb9b