Forgotten places... well almost forgotten

"And now you're honored"

Memorial Day is a chance to say thank you to those who gave of themselves for this 244-year-old experiment we call America. Thanks to the dedication of hundreds of volunteers, thousands of veterans are honored with flags at their grave markers. But some tombstones require more than a quick drive through a country cemetery.

So when Pat Childers wields a machete through thick jaggers up a hillside just off Route 8 in Hydetown, it isn't because he has nothing better to do with his time. It's a way for him to show respect and honor.

"It's straight up there," the logger said as he cuts a path. Somewhere up on this hill lies the remains of a War of 1812 veteran that he thinks needs to be honored. It's not an easy trek with felled trees under foot and no clear understanding where he's headed. A few days earlier a couple others joined Childers and they determined they couldn't do it without some means of cutting through the thicket.

"I'm not saying we're going to get to it," he said as he continued to slice through the underbrush. It was thick and he was leaving a bit of blood behind as thorns ripped though his skin.
Suddenly after countless swings of the blade he exclaims, "We are here!"

Childers inherited a list of deceased veterans from Jerry Shafer who had written approximate locations of out of the way markers, some like this one, in deep woods. Forgotten names, forgotten places.

Well .... almost forgotten.

Childers searched for three years along the hillside before he found the marker the first time. The stone had long since toppled and if not for a couple corner stones he may have never found it.

"What I heard was he was moved twice because of road projects," Childers said. The stone is hard to read but it appears to have "Thomas M" written across the top of the stone and what looks like Burnett just under that. Moss and deterioration make the rest impossible to make out. The metal flag holder indicating he was a veteran of the War of 1812 had been recently replaced.

Searching for records on Burnett haven't produced results as of yet. But knowing the veteran's story doesn't matter for Childers' task during this Memorial Day weekend. Remembering, honoring and pausing to say thanks is what these veteran's groups, which Childers has memberships.
"And now you're honored my friend," Childers said as he cleaned off the marker and placed the new flag in the holder.

Childers served in the Navy from 1982-86 and has been active with the local veteran's groups and helping put flags out. He took over the list of harder to reach graves because Shafer was getting older. "I spend all my free time [during this week] doing this. I get emotional about this stuff," he said. He is looking to find someone younger to take the list over from him. "I think it needs to be done," he said hoping it doesn't end when he can no longer do it.

"What an honor," he said about placing a flag on this remote grave that has a toppled stone that is barely readable anymore. "I hope in 200 or 300 years someone puts a flag on my grave."