CHICOPEE, Mass. - The Chicopee Veteran Services department is hoping the completion of their digital map project will allow all veterans buried in Chicopee to be honored.

​"The mapping project that we're working on started back in 2018," department director Stephanie Shaw said. "When I realized we were getting phone calls every Memorial Day that we were missing some of the veterans that are laid to rest in the city when we would go out and flag."

Shaw said the department has mainly left the responsibility of identifying deceased veterans over the years to local student volunteer groups. She said it’s estimated more than 7,500 veterans are buried throughout the 11 cemeteries in the city, so it was time for a more efficient way to recognize those who served.

''We came up with this system and Google Maps and some paper maps that I had here in the department," Shaw said. "I have a database from the cemeteries and from the clerk's office information. When a veteran is buried, they notify us and we enter all their information and so we kind of took all these sources and imaging and turned them into maps."

Shaw said the maps in development will allow for volunteers to better identify deceased veterans based on a list with the first and last name, plot number, and date of passing.

Gene McGreevy is a member of the Disabled American Veterans and served from 1967-1970 which included two years in Vietnam. He said it’s important to recognize all veterans and their accomplishments.

 ​"To give them recognition for making the ultimate sacrifice for this country is unbelievable," McGreevy said. "So that we can see where they rest, and take care of them where they rest." 

Shaw said the department plans to use the maps they have completed so far to decorate the graves of old and newly discovered deceased veterans with wreathes in December and hopes to have all of their graves mapped by Memorial Day of 2024.