Graveyards. Yes, I almost always find a graveyard to visit when we travel. Why? I find them fascinating. The history you see with dates, the beautiful artwork on stones, particularly the older stones, and because most graveyards are pretty, and so serene.
This was a quicker then normal visit, as it was getting late in the day, the sun was setting and it being January, even in South Carolina it gets nippy. We still had to drive back to our condo in Hilton Head. Look how perfect each row is. I'm always impressed with the precision in National Cemeteries.
By mid January when we visited, most had been removed, as per protocol. But laying the wreaths and removing them in a big job. You pay your respect to those there and I believe you can learn a bit about the area while spending time in a graveyard.
This stone though really got my attention. It's not the standard military issue. It reads, Sacred to the memory of Lorenzo S. Snow, Ordinary Seaman of the US Steammer....and I can't make out the ship (will need to research to see if I can find it), who fell in action on Stone River, Dec 25, 1863. Gallantly battling for his flag and his country. Love is Eternal. How sad, died on Christmas Day. I will be doing some follow up to learn more of this man's story.
Yes, I almost always take time to tour a graveyard when I travel.
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That's fascinating. Graveyards are filled with such history. Thanks for sharing with us!
ReplyDeleteI love graveyards :) Thanks for sharing! (And for stopping by my blog :))
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog! I've been to many graveyards on family trips because my family is really into history. We have searched for ancestors and some are just historic sites. I guess some people think that's weird but it's what I was used to growing up--museums, historic sites, cemetaries. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Christine, Bonnie and Stephsco for your visits and comments. Glad I'm not the only one that see's graveyards as interesting, into history etc.
ReplyDeleteHi I'm Tracie L Holladay. (I usually do not use Holladay online; it's usually safer to use a pseudonym online and I use Lawrence which was my father's middle name.) I'm the granddaughter of Fred & June Holladay.
ReplyDeleteJune Holladay was Fred's 2nd wife; his first wife was Lucille Stockton Holladay. Fred & Lucille adopted a tiny baby who grew up to be my father, Frederick Lawrence Holladay (he is why I use the name Lawrence online). But Lucille died when my father was about 2 (he was born April 1939 in Calvert County MD, and he passed away in January 2005).
Fred later married June Hoban. She too had served in the military; she was a US Army 1st sgt.
I myself married a US Army veteran; my husband is a Cold War veteran and he was stationed in Germany in the 1980s. Every December I carry on the family tradition of teasing the Army vet by walking around the house singing "Anchors Aweigh" and rooting for Navy (GO NAVY BEAT ARMY). LOL it's all in good fun. We have a great laugh.
My grandfather was as gracious a gentleman as one would ever hope to meet. As I was growing up, I spent my Christmas vacations from school with them, and while they did spoil me and showered me in gifts every year, I have to say that most of what I remember was simply spending time with them, listening to their stories, and developing a huge appreciation for big band and swing music. They played it a lot around me and I loved it. To this day, that's Christmas music as far as I'm concerned.
For many years after he got out of the Navy, granddad lived in West Orange, NJ. In 1984 he and my grandmother built a house in Beaufort and moved there. When they passed away, the house was passed on to my father. He died in 2005 and the house was sold.
On the tv stand in my living room is the flag that draped my grandfather's coffin. The United States Marine Corps did his funeral, and you can bet they gave him a very dignified send off. I was 16 at the time, and I had not experienced a military funeral until this. I held it together pretty well until the 21-gun salute. Not even Taps got to me like that did; something about the salute drove the point home that he was really gone.
Here's a funny little quirk about Fred Holladay: he had a particular devotion to Buicks. He never drove any other make or model of car. Well, hey - my dad was a Ford guy and I'm pretty loyal to Toyota.
I'd like to know where you found the info about him attending GWU and Temple. I have my granddad's Milsap certificate hanging on the wall. Can you scan or share some documentation with me? I don't remember this ever coming up in conversation with him - but he was a very modest man and not inclined to toot his own horn a lot.