Today we went out to Camp Nelson Cemetery. The cemetery was begun in 1863 and contains the remains of 1,600 Camp Nelson soldiers, including some 600 African-Americans. In 1868 this cemetery was designated a National Cemetery and over 2,200 Civil War dead from several Kentucky Civil War sites including Perryville, Richmond and Covington were reburied here. The expansion of the cemetery was made possible by a 10 acre land donation in May 1975. Today veteran's are still buried here. 
On this Memorial Day I was hoping for a sunny day but it was cloudy and overcast. It was a good to be there among the graves of so many that have served to protect and defend our great country. On Saturday the Boy Scouts put flags on all the graves and today there were other volunteers putting a red or white carnation on each grave. They did one row with all white carnations and the next row was red so the rows alternated white and red throughout the cemetery. Next year I would like to be a part of placing the carnations on the graves. I think it would be an honor to do that.
When we first arrived we saw this woman who was talking to someone that there was not a flag on the grave she was there to see. Since the flags were put out on Saturday by the Boy Scouts there were no flags available to put on the grave today. Both Abigail and Annah brought with them their flags that they got from a program that they participated in at Camp Nelson last year on Flag Day. When I heard that the lady was missing a flag I asked the girls if one of them might be willing to give the woman their flag to place on the grave that she was there to visit and Annah volunteered. What a nice thing to do and that really made that woman's day!
3 comments:
Looks like the perfect Memorial Day. Camp Nelson looked beautiful. Thanks for the pics of it!
YOu do Memorial Day up right!
That was so sweet of Annah!
Your pictures remind me of Shiloh (about 40 miles from here). The cemetery there can't be expanded because it is right up against the Tennessee River.
I have a friend whose husband was a Navy vet and was buried there in 1982. They told her that he could be buried there, but they were running out of room so she probably wouldn't be able to when her time came.
She fixed that. :-) She had him buried twelve feet down and she's going to be on top of him! She is one very determined lady. :D
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