Patriotic thoughts for May…

 

To join the SUVCW a member must be

 “directly descended from a Soldier, Sailor, Marine or member of the Revenue Cutter Service (or directly descended from a brother, sister, half-brother, or half-sister of such Soldier, etc.) who was regularly mustered and served honorably in, was honorably discharged from, or died in the service of, the Army, Navy, Marine Corps or Revenue Cutter Service of the United States of America or in such state regiments called to active service and was subject to the orders of United States general officers, between April 12, 1861 and April 9, 1865;”

And to a large extent the month of May celebrates these ancestors and other ancestors who were true to the United States for the past 150 years. Each of us have spent hours learning our ancestry, tracking dead ends, and exploring history. One tool that the SUVCW began in 1995 was the National Graves Registration database. That project is for all Camps and Departments. It’s intent is:

“While participating in this project, S.U.V.C.W. Camps and members serve their communities in several different ways.

Many Camps compile lists of locally buried Civil War veterans and donate them to local historical societies and libraries as well as answer inquiries from families about a Civil War ancestor’s grave location. Other Camps create websites about their efforts and make grave location information available on the Internet, or volunteer at local National Cemeteries to help create computerized burial registers and compile historic information about the cemeteries and the

people buried in them.

Another local benefit of this project’s efforts is the identification of the unmarked burial sites of Civil War veterans. Many members, after finding an unmarked veteran’s grave, request and place a Civil War military headstone at the site, a final tribute to an otherwise unknown hero. Departments, comprised of a group of Camps in their respective states, provide a network that allows the smooth flow of information and requests to and from the National Organization.

At the national level, the National Graves Registration Officer provides a secure, central data repository for all members and Camps to send their gathered information. The information is submitted on forms provided by the National Organization, or through the online National Graves Registration Database via the Internet.”

In the past year, the has been rejuvenation to this project. The committee has a specific website (http://www.suvcwgravescommittee.webs.com/). While in the past, we may have focused on personal ancestor graves or smaller local graves in our Camp borders – there are other opportunities. Within the boundary (or near enough…) of our Department the following Cemeteries need a committee person to begin indexing the fallen:

•  Fort Donelson National Cemetery
• Nashville National Cemetery
• Stones River National Cemetery

 

Will you rise to the occasion?

I urge you to accept this challenge.