CRANBERRY TWP — U.S. Army Sgt. Thomas Kisner of Butler fought in Korea and then in Vietnam, where he died on Dec. 21, 1967.

The father of six children under age 12 and husband of Harriet Kisner, now Harriet Vater, was returned home in early 1968 and buried in Pinewood Memorial Park on Route 19 in a military ceremony.

Kisner family members have visited his grave many times over the years, and they were shocked to be told on May 2 that Kisner’s body had been disinterred and moved 30 years ago to a grave in the military section of the cemetery.

Further confusing the issue is the fact that Kisner’s headstone was never moved with the body, and Pinewood Park personnel were unable to tell the family exactly where in the cemetery their war hero was buried.

The plot the Kisners have been visiting for decades was probed this month in the presence of some of Kisner’s children. The probe struck a concrete vault into which coffins are placed, but that did not convince the family their loved one’s remains were in the plot.

Vater of Butler said that upon the advice of her lawyer, she plans to have the grave exhumed to determine whether “Tommy’s” body, which was dressed in his military uniform and dog tags, is still there.

“We want him exhumed and checked,” said a weary-sounding Vater. “The kids are upset, and so am I. It’s just so unnecessary.”

But Frank Milles, vice president at Stonemor Partners, which owns Pinewood cemetery, said from the company’s home office in Levittown that Stonemor officials had determined that Sgt. Kisner was not moved and continues to be near his mother in Pinewood.

“I can understand the family’s confusion because the (cemetery employee) handling it was confused himself,” Milles said, “but (Kisner) is in the original space they purchased.”

Milles explained that a “request to disinter” form allegedly filled out by Vater in 1981 was found in Vater’s file. That form, said Milles, explains the Pinewood employee’s confusion, but the body was never disinterred because the paperwork was never completed for the action.

Milles said the family requested the disinterment at that time and the form includes Vater’s signature, but for unknown reasons, the family must have changed their minds about moving Kisner’s remains.

Vater insists she would never have moved her first husband because his mother is buried nearby and she plans to be buried in a plot between them. All three plots were bought when Kisner died.

“We never wanted Tommy moved,” Vater said.

Vater’s daughter, Mary Jane Double, said that the signature on the disinterment form is not her mother’s. She said Pinewood Park personnel called her mother in early May to come and sign papers so the third grave could be opened in the event of her death.

“That’s when they told her about how he was moved 31 years ago,” said Double, who was six years old when her father was killed in Southeast Asia.

Double said when the family asked why Kisner’s headstone had not been moved, they were told it was because Vater had not paid the $50 to have it moved.

“It’s absolutely unbelievable,” Double said. “It throws you for a loop thinking, ‘My gosh, where is he?’ We have been going to visit my dad for years, and we don’t know if we have been visiting him or not.”

She said when she and her siblings went to the cemetery the next day, they were met with something less than friendliness and cooperation.

“We kept on saying, ‘We want our dad. We want to know where he is,’” Double said. “He just pointed (toward the military section) and said ‘Up on the hill.’”

Double said the episode has taken its toll on her mother.

“She spends her time crying,” Double said. “We are living (his death) all over again. What they’re putting us through, no one should ever have to go through.”

While Milles insisted the family has been told by Pinewood personnelthat Kisner’s body is in the plot where he was buried in 1968, Vater said she has not received any communication from the cemetery or Stonemor Partners.

The exhumation of Kisner’s body has not been scheduled because the family’s lawyer must complete legal proceedings to do so. Vater said a funeral director has agreed to examine the remains to determine if they are those of the husband and father who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country more than four decades ago.

“Everyone has been so helpful to us through this,” Vater said. “We are very appreciative.”