WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) —  One Kansas family is fighting to show respect to their loved one, trying to get him a headstone over 50 years after he was killed in action. Private First Class Christopher Gutierrez is buried at Wichita’s Calvary Cemetery.

He is a Purple Heart recipient, shot and killed in South Vietnam in 1970. His cousins said they could not locate his unmarked grave without help and believed he had a proper headstone.

No proper place to remember the ultimate sacrifice of a loved one.

“He died saving someone else’s life. He got a Purple Heart, but no stone, no headstone,” said Teresa Guerrero.

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Guerrero and her sister visited Calvary Cemetery last year to place flowers and American flags, and with no headstone, they couldn’t find her cousin’s resting place.

She said his bare plot was not representative of his service or sacrifice.

“Oh my God, my little sister, her and I, we just opened our eyes, and we just started crying because there was nothing there, nothing,” said Guerrero.

She reached out to the local VA, who helped her mail the VA Form 40-1330 to get a headstone, but those were denied because she has no immediate family.

“She said, I need to speak to a brother, a sister, or his parents, you’re a cousin, and you don’t count,” said Guerrero.

His only living brother has Alzheimer’s, making it hard to get him to fill out the paperwork.

Guerrero is determined to make his resting place fit for a hero.

“There’s nothing there. It’s like he didn’t fight for us,” said Guerrero.

She intends to continue working with the VA and the director of Calvary Cemetery to get a headstone for her cousin.

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