KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Their names aren't familiar and their faces have been forgotten, but their service endures.
And on Tuesday, they'll be buried with a full honor guard.
"This is our way of giving back to them," Jeff Berry, the director of Berry Funeral Home, said. "It's honoring to those particular seven veterans, but also to all of our service men that step forward that we're not going to leave you behind."
James Quick, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, will be part of the funeral procession.
"These veterans we're going to be burying tomorrow, the seven of them, they do not have no family. We are their only families," he said.
They served in the Vietnam War era and were honorably discharged, but as to what happened after -- their stories are mostly mysteries.
"Are they all truly homeless? Probably not," Berry said. "They all were at the forensic center, all were at the medical examiners office, and there was no one to claim them."
But Tuesday, they'll be claimed by people they never met.
"You look around tomorrow and you'll see a lot of tears tomorrow," Quick said, "And it's not tears from people who know these people, but it's tears for people who know what these people did for them."
It is a way to honor their sacrifice.
"You won't become forgotten. You will be known, you will be honored, you will be remembered," Berry said.
And make sure they will never be left behind.
"They served so much. They gave so much for their lives. For our freedom in this country, for us to do things we get to do, for all of us who served," Quick said.