Flags for veterans at Garnettsville Cemetery
By PAT BOWEN “I was at Garnettsville Cemetery last year right after Memorial Day and I noticed there were almost no flags on the military veterans’ graves,” said Don Frenzl, a Marine Corps veteran. “So I purchased some flags and contacted the Boy Scout Troop 150 Scoutmaster, Joe Roe who is an Army retiree. He agreed this would be a good project for the Scouts, and here we are.” Roe, his son, Josh, a life Scout on the Eagle Scout track, Mark O’Brien, assistant Scoutmaster, and his Scout son Nick, Frenzl and his son Steve, and friends Pat and Steve Bowen, an Army veteran, spent over an hour, scouring the cemetery for military veterans to honor. Frenzl explained before we began our hunt that the Veteran’s Administration provides plaques to the families of veterans upon request. These plaques have the soldier’s name, rank, unit, conflict, and combat awards listed. The plaque is usually placed in the footstone position. Additionally, there were several plaques which had been made by the Works Projects Administration in the 1930s. These are concrete engraved stones with the soldier’s information and the Maltese Cross and are usually placed at the foot of the headstone. Armed with that information and flags, off we went. In addition to veterans from World War I and World War II, the Korean Conflict, and Vietnam, there are five Confederate Civil War veterans. Four of these were identified and catalogued by the Sons of the Confederacy group, and the fifth by Frenzl. Frenzl is still researching others who are the right age in the cemetery to have been in the Civil War. Frenzl gave the group some highlights of what information he had found. There is a sailor who was in the first wave of military to hit Omaha Beach at Normandy in World War II. There is a Marine veteran who stepped on a land mine in Vietnam. There is another soldier from World War I who was a cook – one of the two most dangerous jobs in that conflict – the other being an ammunition carrier. The cook used a wood fire which acted as a beacon for the enemy artillery. Then the cook had to transport the food to the infantry, moving through and in and out of the various trenches to feed the soldiers. One of the Civil War soldiers was injured and mustered out of the Army of the South, but became a guerilla, harassing the Union soldiers as they moved through Kentucky. The Civil War veterans were honored additionally with a Confederate naval flag, the only type of Confederate flag Frenzl could find. “I wanted to honor them all for their service,” said Frenzl, “even the Rebs – they were Americans fighting for what they believed in, states’ rights.” Frenzl had found 69 veterans in Garnettsville, and challenged the group to find them all. The final total was 83 American flags placed. “I’m half-blind,” joked Frenzl. “I thought younger eyes could find what I missed.” Some of the fallen gave their lives for their country and some served and came back to civilian life. “All should be honored,” said Frenzl, “Lest we forget.” Several groups of mourners visiting their family gravesites stopped and thanked the Scouts for the flags and their work. As we turned to leave, the 83 flags waved in the gentle wind of the cemetery, as if saying goodbye. Click Here to Go Back
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Submitted photo
Submitted photo