Unificationist Veteran Honored with Religious Symbol on Gravestone
By Anne-Marie Mylar
Monday, November 11th marks the federal holiday of Veterans Day in which Americans across the country honor the people who served in the armed forces. Unificationist veterans include Kem W. Mylar, a Vietnam War-era veteran who passed away October 4, 2012, and who was recently honored with the emblem of his faith — the Unification Church symbol — on his plaque at the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery. His wife, Anne-Marie Mylar, describes in the text below her husband’s story of service and her experience requesting the symbol for her husband’s memorial plaque.
A resident of Middletown, Delaware, Anne- Marie (Seguette) Mylar is currently the administrator of the Online Matching System, a tool used by individuals seeking to find a match for the Blessing. She was blessed in marriage to Kem W. Mylar in 1982 at Madison Square Garden, New York City. Kem and Anne-Marie have one child, a daughter, Andrea, who is now 23 years old, and who also is blessed in marriage.
My husband, Kem W. Mylar, enlisted on August 20, 1969 at the age of 19. He went through basic training in Georgia. Of all the people who did the training with him, all but two individuals were sent to Vietnam, and the remaining two were sent to Korea. The other person never made it there, so only Kem reached Korea.
During his time in the military, my husband, along with other people, was responsible for fixing all the broken radios that would come their way and put them back into service. He understood the intricacies of it very well and, I believe, he actually enjoyed the work. He never saw actual combat.
During that time, he was searching for God and truth very profoundly and had several spiritual experiences that would, later on, validate the words of True Father about the spiritual world and God. It was in Korea that he met his spiritual father, Bruce Brown. He was able to attend Sunday Service at Cheongpadong, the first church center in Seoul, in a very small and intimate setting with the True Parents. Mrs. Won Pok Choi, one of True Father’s earliest disciples, was a very important person in his life at the time. She would translate True Father’s words and was a wonderful spiritual mother for Kem.
My husband was a soldier at heart. He behaved as such his whole life in the church towards all his central figures and especially towards the True Parents and the True Family. His attitude of attendance was truly remarkable, and I learned much from it. It is because of him that I have a deep respect for the True Parents.
His spiritual journey just prior to knowing about the True Parents, in conjunction with his own personal effort to study the Divine Principle and True Father’s words, convinced him beyond any doubt of the value of the True Parents and their mission.
Kem ascended on October 4th of last year (2012). His Seong Hwa and Won Jeon ceremonies were on October 16, 2012. His body was interred in a Veterans’ Cemetery in which one does not have the choice of headstone or what it says on it. There can only be inscribed the name, military rank, and a religious symbol. That is it. I looked at all the available religious symbols but did not find one for the Unification faith. So, I applied for it. I did not want to put anything else but our own religious symbol. I was told by the Department of Veteran Affairs that it could take up to a year. By May of 2013 I received a letter that was letting me know that my request had been granted and I would receive the plaque at some later date. I felt very victorious, even though I had done very little; I felt that it was actually a great victory.
I waited. I kept on checking once in a while at the cemetery but the symbol was not there. Finally on October 4th of this year I went there with my daughter, and here it was. The plaque was there with our religious symbol on it. I felt happy. It was a beautiful gift on the anniversary of my husband’s ascension.
So, I sent the picture to our Church President, Dr. Michael Balcomb, who thanked me in an email. From now on, any Unificationist military or former military personnel interred in a Veteran Cemetery will be able to use our own religious logo.
Kem W. Mylar, left, joins his spiritual father, Bruce Brown, right, on his first visit to the Cheongpadong Church, the first church center in Seoul, Korea.
Kem and Anne-Marie Mylar during their visit to Kona, Hawaii.
All photos submitted by Anne-Marie Mylar
The entrance of the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery where Unificationist Kem. W. Mylar and many other valiant veterans rest.
The Department of Veterans Affairs honored the wish of the Mylar family to inscribe an emblem of the Unification Church on the grave marker of veteran Kem W. Mylar at the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery.