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Family searching for missing memorial plaque from veteran's grave

Pryzbylec's son Caleb had come out to Pine Hill to pay respects to his grandfather, and that's when the family found that his plaque was missing.

FRUITPORT, Mich. — "He would do anything for anybody," said Shelly Pryzbylec. "Give the shirt right off his back."

Pryzbylec was talking about her dad, Pete Hosko.

Credit: Shelly Pryzbylec
Pete Hosko

The Army Staff Sergeant is currently buried at Pine Hill Cemetery in Fruitport. He served during the Vietnam War era.

"He was just an amazing guy and not a day goes by that I don't miss him," said Pryzbylec.

Pryzbylec's son Caleb had come out to Pine Hill to pay respects to his grandfather, and that's when the family found that the plaque commemorating his military service had gone missing.

Credit: WZZM
Hosko's service plaque that is missing.

"I kind of went from being angry to now I'm just really sad," said Pryzbylec.

Plaques for veterans are cemented into the headstone. Right now, the missing plaque is being investigated as theft.

For Shelly, she's confused as to why someone would desecrate the grave of a man who was so enthusiastic about his country.

"He loved nothing more than his family, his country, and he always showed that," said Pryzbylec.

13 ON YOUR SIDE interviewed Hosko in 2010 about his patriotic house in Fruitport. From hanging flags to a flag shingled into the roof, he showed his love for the United States in all aspects of his life.

Credit: WZZM
Hosko and his wife outside of their flag home in 2010

"I don't know, we just started buying one flag, and then it multiplied and then our kids would buy us flag stuff," said Hosko in 2010 about his house.

The Pryzbylec's have some good news, however. George Kotkowicz, the quartermaster at the local VFW post, is helping the family get a new plaque, free of charge through the Veteran's Administration.

"I would like to offer the individual or individuals the opportunity to make this right," said Kotkowicz. "And return the grave marker."

After walking through the cemetery that has more than 400 veterans buried on its grounds, the former Army veteran said there are at least eight other stones that once had plaques attached to them that are no longer there. However, it isn't confirmed if the others were stolen or moved. That's currently under investigation.

"We would hope that the community would respect this," said Kotkowicz. "Obviously, somebody doesn't, because they carried out this act of vandalism."

In a statement, Fruitport Township Clerk Andrea Anderson said:

We are so saddened to hear about this incident and the disrespect of one of our veterans in Pine Hill Cemetery!  I have been in touch with the family and together we are working with the Fruitport Township Police as they investigate this incident.  In a full walkthrough this morning, we did note that there were other markers that appear to have had a plaque on the back at some point in time, however there have been times when family has removed them for one reason or another so it is hard to say how long those have been gone for or why they are gone.  We have not yet been contacted by any other families with claims of missing veteran plaques, so we are not able to confirm that others have been stolen at this time.  An employee of our has worked in the cemetery for over 20 years and shared that we’ve never experience the theft or vandalism of a veterans plaque before.

While it can be replaced, the family says it's the principle that hurts.

"They're our veterans and they should be taken care of, even after you know, and to death," said Pryzbylec.

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