BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — On May 1, Earl Robbins passed away at the age of 83.

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The associate pastor, father and Army veteran made his daughter Dr. Tammy Findlay-Bell proud.

“He fought for his country, but he fought for his community as well,” she said.

Findlay-Bell was born in El Paso, Texas while her father was stationed at Fort Bliss. The Korean War veteran returned home in the middle of the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

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“To the men of power, he was still just a black guy,” his daughter said. “He never got that respect and the dignity of being a soldier returning home.”

When Findlay-Bell started caring for him two years ago. He had Alzheimer’s, and she had a difficult time finding all his military records, including his DD-214.

Even though she applied for a copy last year, it still hadn’t come through on the day he died.

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Findlay-Bell tried to get Rev. Robbins approved for burial at Cape Canaveral National Cemetery and kept getting denied.

She said at one point she was told by the VA that her father didn’t even serve.

Late last week, she went through his belongings again and finally found his DD-214, the thing needed to get his burial at the national cemetery approved.

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Findlay-Bell said she wonders why there isn’t a better way for the country to keep track of its veterans.

“It felt like, once again, (he was) not given his dignity and his just due,” she said. “And I wasn’t going to stop until we got that for him.”

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The VA confirmed that Robbins is set for burial at Cape Canaveral National Cemetery Wednesday morning.

A VA spokesperson said it will review its conversations with Robbins’ family to make sure the agents acted appropriately, and hopes the family understands the VA is required by law to verify eligibility.

VIDEO: Veterans continue tradition of planting flags to honor fallen soldiers ahead of Memorial Day Every year around Memorial Day, a group of local veterans creates a tribute to fallen servicemen and women. (Joe Kepner, WFTV.com/WFTV)

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