This Memorial Day Weekend, I found myself wondering how we should truly honor the men and women killed while serving our country.
Most of us embrace the weekend as the official start of summer and enjoy the extra day off on Monday as we indulge in backyard barbecues and newly-reopened swimming pools, but I always feel a little guilty that I can’t do something tangible to honor the fallen.
Dave McWhorter, Hugh Schiller, and Scott Suther should feel no guilt about their actions this Memorial Day Weekend, as this Memorial Day, they quite literally memorialized a deceased New Carlisle soldier whose grave marker disappeared through the passage of time.
These three men, all members of the local historical societies in western Clark County, united in a quest to see Revolutionary War soldier William Brandenburg’s tombstone re-erected, as the original became either buried or obliterated in the nearly 200 years since his passing. Brandenburg moved to the Bethel Township area with his extended family in the fall of 1817 after fighting the British in the Revolutionary War. Brandenburg succumbed to the cholera epidemic in the area in the early 1830s, as did the majority of his family, which speaks to the severity and strength of the disease at the time.
As New Carlisle’s annual Memorial Day parade wound its way into the New Carlisle Cemetery Saturday morning, McWhorter, Schiller, and Suther were present at the cemetery along with members of sons and daughters of the American Revolution groups, boy scout troops, historical society members, and an honor guard on-hand to ceremoniously commemorate the re-dedication of Brandenburg’s tombstone. The three men were also honored to welcome Brandenburg’s great-great-great-great niece Sharon Maingi of Tipp City to the ceremony. While Maingi was the only one of Brandenburg’s relatives in attendance, Suther said he received numerous emails from other Brandenburg descendants thanking them for their efforts.
McWhorter said he was honored to be a part of the “team effort” to re-memorialize Brandenburg’s life so that his name can be remembered by all who see his grave.
“With this seemingly simple gesture, the aforementioned people involved in obtaining the new marker for our fallen neighbor have righted a historical wrong,” said McWhorter. “With Brandenburg’s new stone now set, future generations will know that not only did he exist, but helped shape the face of our nation through his service in battle.”
