Latest news with #U.S.VeteransAdministration
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Memorial Day in Nashville
Scout leader Dustin Moneal, center. of Boy Scout Pack 1322 gathers flags to put on graves at the Nashville National Cemetery, which is administered by the U.S. Veterans Administration. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout) Members of Scouting USA, formerly Boy Scouts of America, traditionally place flags on graves in veterans cemeteries across the U.S. Tennessee Lookout photojournalist John Partipilo went to Nashville National Cemetery in Madison to document a local scout pack doing the 2025 honors. Land for the cemetery was purchased in 1866. In 1867, it opened and the first interments were of Civil War dead, transplanted from veterans hospital cemeteries in the region. There are more than 4,000 unknown dead interred in the cemetery, which is administered by the of Veterans Affairs. Collin Maddox, 26, dressed as a Continental soldier with the Sons of the American Revolution, holds flags for his group to start the process of placing flags on the graves at the Nashville National Cemetery. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout) Women Scouts from left, Lila West, 12, and Michelle Oakley from Troop 934 in Mt. Juliet, place flags at the Nashville National Cemetery. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout) Joe Baines walks through the Nashville National Cemetery wearing a a jacket featuring scouting patches he has saved. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout) Rhonda Bernhardt walks through flags at Spring Hill Cemetery in Madison, Tennessee. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout) James B. Hoyer holds flags for his troop to place on grave stones for Memorial Day. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
Axios
06-05-2025
- General
- Axios
Unmarked graves of Union soldiers identified in Des Moines
The unmarked graves of 15 Civil War veterans of the Union army will receive headstones at Glendale Cemetery this month, more than a century after their deaths. Why it matters: A volunteer initiative to help install the memorials seeks to address a long-standing oversight for soldiers who served in the nation's bloodiest conflict. Catch up quick: Research by retired Des Moines firefighter Bob Niffenegger recently identified the unmarked burials via documents like military and court records. Cemetery staff and military groups collaborated to obtain the stones at no cost from the U.S. Veterans Administration. State of play: The soldiers ranged from ages 17 to 35 during their military service and were originally from nine states, including Iowa. They were between 27 and 86 at the time of their deaths. It's unknown why their graves went unmarked, cemetery historian Mike Rowley tells Axios. The intrigue: The research uncovered unique stories behind some of their lives through newspaper articles published around a century ago. Merrick Pease was a relatively obscure Iowa inventor who may have patented a telephone four years before Alexander Graham Bell, despite dying with only $100. Josiah Nelson, the last of the 15 to die, in 1931, once replied in court, "I beg your pardon, judge, I am only 82," after a judge mistakenly added a year to his age. William Cave was a Civil War musician and a longtime shoemaker who carved custom wooden foot molds for his clients from a shop at the former Randolph Hotel in DSM. At the time of his death, even his birthdate was unknown.
