Serving as family: Unclaimed Sumter veteran buried at Fort Jackson with honors

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A small group, including Sumter Mayor David Merchant and his wife and his sons, attended a funeral at Fort Jackson National Cemetery in Columbia on Wednesday to honor Airman Basic Jerry Lynn White. White, a Sumter native, passed away earlier this year at Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital and was buried with military honors as part of the Dignity Memorial Homeless Veterans Burial Program, meaning he had no known family to claim his body. White joined the Air Force at 19. The mayor attended to accept a flag in place of White's family. For more, find the episode of Sumter Today on the event streaming online Thursday afternoon at www.theitem.com/studiosumter.

PHOTOS BY MICAH GREEN / THE SUMTER ITEM