|
The Vietnam Veterans of the Mechanicsburg, PA
Area was organized on 1 March 1998. It is a
family-oriented veterans organization made up of 51
members with veterans from all wars, their wives,
their children and their parents.
In April, 1998, the officers visited the
Cumberland County Veterans Affairs Office in
Carlisle, PA and inquired if there were veterans
buried in any cemeteries in the Mechanicsburg, that
needed maintenance. They also asked where they
could place American Flags for Memorial
Day.
They were assigned to the Lincoln Colored
Cemetery near Winding Hill Road in Mechanicsburg
where lie the remains of 12 Civil War soldiers.
When they visited the cemetery, much to their
surprise, the cemetery needed a lot of work -
tombstones were down, grass was very high and there
were fallen trees. An engine hoist was used to
reset the tombstones.
The names of the 12 Civil War soldiers buried
at Lincoln Colored Cemetery are:
|
1. Babcock, Ranson E.
2. Berry, Joseph
3. Bridget, William
4. Butler, Henry
5. Cook, Enoch S.
6. Howard, Richard
7. Jackson, Reuben
8. Pinkney, J.W.
9. Pope, William
10. Riley, George W.
11. Spriggs, James
12. Williams, John
|
A monument was donated by Gingrich Memorials
in Mechanicsburg and was placed at the base of the
flag pole in memory of these 12 soldiers. The flag
pole holds an American flag and a POW/MIA flag,
which are illuminated 24 hours daily, every day of
the year. The flags were donated and are replaced
every Memorial Day by the Mechanicsburg Area
Veterans Council. A service is held there every
Memorial Day (2009 being the 12th year) at 1400
(2:00 PM).
Each Flag Day (14 June), the Vietnam Veterans
of the Mechanicsburg, PA Area retire old and worn
American flags and a service is held on the square
in Mechanicsburg. After the service, the flags are
taken to Myers Funeral Home in Mechanicsburg, to be
sent to the crematory. The ashes are then buried
the following year at Lincoln Colored Cemetery at
the flag pole during the Memorial Day
service.
|
