Showing posts with label cemetery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cemetery. Show all posts

Forgotten Union Veterans of the Civil War are honored in ceremony at Evergreen Washelli

Wednesday, August 28, 2024

Honor Guard by the Sons of the American Revolution
Photo by Doug Cerretti

By Doug Cerretti

I had the distinct privilege to honor 29 veterans who served during time of war and 31 women who supported them at Evergreen-Washelli Funeral Home (11111 Aurora Ave N Seattle, WA 98133) on Wednesday, August 21, 2024. 

While we honor all veterans equally, these veterans are unique. For one, these cremated remains were unclaimed. We do not know the machinations that occurred when these veterans and spouses died but no one, not even family members claimed them.

Cremated remains of 29 Union Veterans of the Civil War and 31 Spouses
Photo by Doug Cerretti

With the support of Dignity Memorial, parent company of Evergreen-Washelli, the Missing in American Project (MIAP) discovered these unclaimed cremains on shelves in the basement of local funeral homes. 

After many research hours, volunteers from MIAP validated the identity of these cremains and that they were veterans. 

As MIAP Vice-President Clyde Taylor said, 
“Veterans signed a blank check to the United States when they enlisted which include payment up to and including their life. In return they are promised a dignified and honorable military burial.

"Through the effort of MIAP and Dignity Memorial, these unclaimed cremains are now claimed fulfilling that obligation. 

"The finding of so many unclaimed cremains is sad but I believe even worse for those who have served our country." 

This happens more often than many of us are aware of; two years ago, Dignity Memorial and MIAP reclaimed 123 veterans as was described in the Shoreline Area News

The other unique thing about these cremains is that they are Union veterans of the Civil War and their cremains have been unclaimed for over 100 years! 

As the colors were carried in for the ceremony by the Washington National Guard, Ashokan Farewell was played. 

Ashokan Farewell was written in 1982 by Jay Ungar and was played several times in Ken Burns’ PBS Civil War miniseries in 1990 and this song will forever be linked to the Civil War. The song tugs your emotions of loss, longing and sorrow as you think of those that fought in the War Between the States. (Listen to it here)

Union Veterans and Spouses whose remains were unclaimed for over 100 years
Each one was honored at the ceremony
Photo by Doug Cerretti

Many Union veterans moved west after the war to start a new life away from the horrors they experienced and many of them traveled to Washington State. 

They included George L. Camp (1835-1918) a soldier of the 92nd Ohio Infantry who survived being shot during the Battle of Missionary Ridge in 1863 and lived in Seattle until 1918, along with his wife, Ernestine. 

William O'Neal (1846 - 1919) a soldier of the 45th Ohio infantry who was a survivor of the horrors of the notorious Andersonville prison camp.

Emeline Mattice (1831 - 1913), is representative of the toll taken by war on families and the home front. Her husband survived the war but he died shortly after. She lost her two brothers in the war, one died of disease in 1862 and another died in battle in Virginia just before Lee's surrender at Appomattox in 1865.

Richard Heisler from Civil War Seattle said that in 1880 there were 75 Union veterans in Seattle and by 1905 there were 2000 in King County and 3000 in Washington State, more per capita than any state in the Union. And here they lived the rest of their lives. 

The last Seattle Union veteran, Hiram Randall Gale, passed away in 1951 at the age of 104.

Remains of Chauncy Roscoe and his wife Bessie
are carried at Tahoma National Cemetery
Photo by Doug Cerretti


On Thursday August 22, 2024, the claimed cremains of these Union veterans and their spouses were transported to Tahoma National Cemetery (18600 SE 240th St Kent, WA 98042) for their final honors and final resting place. 

Their names were spoken as they were carried from the hearse individually or as husband and wife through an honor line of the Sons of the American Revolution. 

 21-Musket Salute by the Historical 4th Infantry Regiment
Photo by Doug Cerretti

The Union veterans were finally honored with a musket volley by the Historical 4th Infantry Regiment, taps by Debbie Dawson, Peninsula Veteran Honor Guard and Flag Folding Ceremony by the Washington Army National Guard. 

As Matt Fox, Dignity Memorial, said, “It is long overdue that these veterans and their spouses are laid to rest and as we speak their names, they live a little longer with stories and memories of families we will never know.”


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Remains of World War I Soldier to be buried in Lake Forest Park

Sunday, August 11, 2024

Acacia Memorial Park Cemetery in Lake Forest Park

FORT KNOX, Ky. – The remains of U.S. Army Pfc. Charles McAllister, a Soldier killed during World War I, will be interred Aug. 21 at Acacia Memorial Park Cemetery, Lake Forest Park WA. Acacia Memorial Park Funeral Home will perform graveside services preceding the interment.

Pfc. Charles A. McAllister
A native of Seattle, McAllister was assigned to Company I, 3d Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, American Expeditionary Force, U.S. Army, in France. 

He was reported missing in action July 19, 1918, and subsequently presumed killed in action during the 1st Infantry Division’s advance in the Aisne-Marne offensive in France.

In 2002 a French archeology company discovered two individual sets of what appeared to be WWI remains in the village of Ploisy, which the company turned over to U.S. government personnel. Years later, McAllister was accounted for by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency April 15, 2024, after his remains were identified through laboratory analysis.

The Past Conflict Repatriations Branch, under the Army Casualty and Mortuary Affairs Operations Division at the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, Fort Knox, Kentucky, plays a key role in the process of locating Family members of missing Soldiers from WWII, the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

The process begins with locating the Family member most closely related to the missing Soldier, known as the primary next of kin, followed by a request for Family reference samples or DNA, which are used as a main source in identifying remains.

Once a Soldier has been identified by the Armed Forces Medical Examiner, the PCRB notifies and briefs the Family about the results of historical, forensic and DNA reports, benefits and the mortuary process including burial with full military honors.

Anyone interested in obtaining more information about the funeral and interment should contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490 and/or Acacia Memorial Park Funeral Home, (206) 814-7224.

Updated with photo of Pfc. Charles A. McAllister


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Walk Back in Time - historical event at Edmonds Pioneer Cemetery July 18, 2024

Sunday, July 14, 2024

In 2012 John Hartquist portrayed Edmonds
founder George Brackett. The program is
different every year.
Republished from My Edmonds News

Members of the public are invited to the Edmonds Memorial Cemetery’s annual Walk Back in Time event, scheduled for 1-2pm Thursday, July 18, 2024 at 820 15th St SW, Edmonds.

This year’s theme focuses on those who physically shaped Edmonds as we know it today through their determination and grit, the City of Edmonds said in news release announcing the event.

Portrayed by members of the cemetery board and local historian and My Edmonds News writer Byron Wilkes, the Walk Back in Time will focus on the following people:

  • George Astell, a logger who was instrumental in helping to establish the Yost Lumber Company, the Spring Water Company and the Yost Auto Garage
  • Charles Breed, an early settler who owned 160 acres surrounding Edmonds
  • Adrienne Caspers, a teacher in the Edmonds School District for more than 40 years — and a member of the family that Caspers Street is named after.
  • Eathel Engel Thayer, the daughter of L.C. Engel, who built the buildings that are now home to the Edmonds Bookshop, Engel’s Pub and the residence adjacent to the Edmonds Opera House
  • Mathew E. & Clara A. Hyner, arguably Edmonds’ original power couple. Mathew Hyner served as the town’s first postmaster and Mathew and Clara were founders of the Congregational Church in Edmonds.
There is no registration or fee for this event. Please bring water and consider a chair if you are unable to stand for long periods of time.

For more information, email cara.brown@edmondswa.gov or visit the cemetery website.


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Maj. Gen. with ties to Shoreline addresses crowd of 500 at Memorial Day ceremony in France

Sunday, June 2, 2024

Maj. Gen. James R. Kriesel
Photo by Arthur McQueen, EUCOM Public Affairs
THIAUCOURT-REGNIÉVILLE, France (May 26, 2024) 

Maj. Gen. James R. Kriesel, Director of Exercises and Assessments, United States European Command (USEUCOM) J7, and Reserve Component Advisor to the Commander USEUCOM, speaks to the assembled crowd of nearly 500 during the Saint-Mihiel American Cemetery Memorial Day commemoration in Thiaucourt-Regniéville, France, May 26, 2024. 

Maj. Gen. Kriesel is the son of Gerhard and Joyce Kriesel of Shoreline.

Photo by Arthur McQueen,
EUCOM Public Affairs
USEUCOM and its Component Commands oversee military operations and resources across Europe, ensuring readiness, cooperation and regional security alongside Allies and partners. 

Together, we support deterrence efforts, respond to crises and promote stability in the European theater.

The American Battle Monuments Commission oversees 21 cemeteries in six countries in Europe, where nearly 70,000 American servicemembers rest eternally. 


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Memorial Day programs in Edmonds

Sunday, May 26, 2024

Photo courtesy FindAGrave.com
Edmonds Cemetery

Members of the Edmonds Cemetery and Columbarium Board invite the public to attend the annual Memorial Day Observance at 11am Monday, May 27, 2024 at the Edmonds Memorial Cemetery and Columbarium 820 15th St SW, Edmonds, WA 98020

This year's speaker is Greg Copeland, King 5 News anchor. 

He will be sharing the story of his grandfather, WWII Naval Officer, Rear Admiral Robert W. Copeland. Click HERE to view the story aired on King 5 News.

The Edmonds Memorial Cemetery was placed on the Washington State Register of Historic Places in 1972 and has 625 veterans interred. In honor of Memorial Day graves of all veterans will be marked with a white cross and a miniature US flag.

Edmonds Veterans Plaza
Photo courtesy City of Edmonds
Edmonds Veterans Plaza

2024 Edmonds 
Memorial Day Program 1:30pm 
Monday May 27, 2024
Edmonds Veterans Plaza
250 Fifth Ave N, Edmonds WA 98020

Remarks: Michael Reagan

Gold Star Families Bench Dedication

Adjourn to American Legion Post 66, 117 6th Ave S, Edmonds WA 98020


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Memorial Day at Evergreen Washelli in North Seattle

Saturday, May 25, 2024

WWI Doughboy statue at Evergreen Washelli
Photo by Steven H. Robinson
Memorial Day
Monday, May 27, 2024 
Evergreen Washelli -Veterans Memorial Cemetery, 

10 AM Flag Placement at Veterans Memorial Cemetery

11 AM Memorial Day Service to be held at the WWI Doughboy Statue


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Memorial Day Service Purdy & Walters at Floral Hills in Lynnwood

Friday, May 24, 2024

Floral Hills Veterans' Memorial
photo courtesy Purdy and Walters

Memorial Day Service
Purdy & Walters at Floral Hills

  • Monday, May 27, 2024, at 11:00am, veterans, their families, and the public will gather for a Service of Remembrance at our Veterans Memorial site located in the cemetery at 409 Filbert Rd. Lynnwood, WA 98036
  • Saturday, May 25 at 10:00am, volunteers will place flags on the graves of veterans. This provides great photo opportunities and a chance to hear compelling stories.
  • Monday, May 27 at 10:30am, the Service of Remembrance begins with a band concert performed by the Eagles and Letter Carriers Band. Our guest speaker this year is Dennis Gibb, Army (Retired).

Members of the Sno-King Chapter #423 Vietnam Veterans of America, and Purdy & Walters at Floral Hills present the program.

This event is open to the public.

For additional information, contact Brenda McCoy


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Memorial to veterans of the War of 1812 at Evergreen Washelli Memorial Garden

Monday, November 13, 2023

 
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

This monument in Evergreen Washelli memorializes the veterans of the War of 1812 - said to be our actual war of independence - who died in Washington Territory.

One of the names is a prominent one in Washington history. George Bush 1789/90  - 1863 who died in Thurston County. 

HistoryLink.org has an article on him:

George Bush (ca. 1790-1863) was a key leader of the first group of American citizens to settle north of the Columbia River in what is now Washington. 

Bush was a successful farmer in Missouri, but as a free African American in a slave state, he faced increasing discrimination and decided to move west. 

In 1844, Bush and his good friend Michael T. Simmons (1814-1867), a white Irish American, led their families and three others over the Oregon Trail. 

When they found that racial exclusion laws had preceded them and barred Bush from settling south of the Columbia River, they settled on Puget Sound, becoming the first Americans to do so. 

Bush established a successful farm near present day Olympia on land that became known as Bush Prairie. He and his family were noted for their generosity to new arrivals and for their friendship with the Nisqually Indians who lived nearby. 

Bush continued modernizing and improving his farm until his death in 1863. Said by some sources to be named George Washington Bush in honor of the first president, he has no known family connection to the two later presidents who share with him the name George Bush.

More of the article is here - a fascinating historical account!

By Kit Oldham 
Posted 1/31/2004 
HistoryLink.org Essay 5645


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After 100 years, together again

Monday, December 12, 2022

Myra Kinzie's remains sat at Butterworth
Funeral Home for 110 years. Photo by Doug Cerretti
Butterworth Funeral Home and Cemetery, a provider within the nationwide network of Dignity Memorial (funeral, cremation and cemetery locations) has been working with the volunteers of Missing in America Project (MIAP) over the past two years to identify the unclaimed cremated remains of veterans, spouses of veterans and dependents of veterans who had been left at Butterworth in Seattle and who were eligible to be interred with military honors in a national or state veterans cemetery.

123 of them were recently interred at Evergreen Washelli in North Seattle. See our previous article by Douglas Cerretti

Now Doug provides a follow up to the story

If you remember Myra Kinzie’s (1/8/1851-11/1/1912) unclaimed remains were 110 years old. She was the widow of Capt John Kinzie, US Army and a veteran of the Indian Wars. 

I had wondered what happened to him and I found out in the Spokesman-Review article that was published when the remains were transported to the Washington State Veterans Cemetery. 

John Kinzie (8/19/1850-8/10/1914) died two years after her and his unclaimed remains were interred at Washington State Veterans Cemetery five years ago. 

They had been separated over 100 years at different funeral homes. They are together now.

Commandant Kinzie with ROTC cadets at Washington State College
John and Myra were married April 17, 1872, he was 21 and she was 20 before his graduation from West Point. After retiring from the Army John became ROTC Commandant in 1898 at Washington State College, Pullman, WA (now Washington State University) and afterwards joined the Washington National Guard in Olympia.


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Forgotten veterans will receive full military honors

Sunday, November 20, 2022

123 urns with remains of forgotten veterans

Story and photos by Doug Cerretti

It was stunning. As I walked into Tribute Center and Celebration Hall at Evergreen Washelli Funeral Home and Cemetery (11111 Aurora Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98133), I saw the 123 urns. I have never seen so many remains in one place.
Who are these people? 

They are 99 unclaimed Veterans, 14 Spouses and 10 dependent children. They are Veterans or dependents from the Vietnam War, Korean War, World War II, World War I, the Spanish-American War and the Indian Wars.

Corwin and Cameron were Spanish-American War vets
They are Robert V Cameron and John H Corwin, US Army veterans of the Spanish-American War. 

They are the Sutherland family, brothers Glen W, US Army and Ray C, US Navy, veterans of WWI and wife, Gertrude H and son, Ladd W. 

Sutherland family
They are Myra G Kinzie, beloved wife of John Kinzie a veteran of the Indian Wars, whose unclaimed remains have been waiting 110 years to be laid to rest.

This is the largest unclaimed recovery and interment in recent U.S. history. We were invited, November 14, 2022 to honor these 123 souls and proclaim, “they are no longer unclaimed.” 

These remains were unclaimed and forgotten, but at the ceremony we were there to change that they were unclaimed no longer, to remember them, as Soldiers never die unless forgotten. The unclaimed remains were found at Butterworth Funeral Home and Cemetery in Seattle.

Service Corporation International, www.sci-corp.com, North America's largest provider of funeral, cemetery and cremation services, and its brand, Dignity Memorial®, have partnered with the Missing In America Project www.miap.us to inter the ashes of 99 veterans who never received a proper burial.

Veterans of WW I
The veterans have gone unclaimed for decades, because their families never made arrangements or they didn't have living family members to arrange a service. 

This will be the largest burial in MIAP history. The veterans will receive a dignified ceremony and final recognition of deep gratitude for their faithful service to our country.

The mission of the Missing In America Project is to locate, identify and inter the unclaimed remains of American veterans and their dependents.

Veterans of WWI and WWII
They visit funeral homes around the country to fulfill their mission of securing a final resting place for the forgotten heroes. Volunteers create an inventory of ashes, and verify the date of birth, date of death and any other available information.

With the exception of three to be buried at sea and seven going to Tahoma National Cemetery 18600 SE 240th St, Kent, WA 98042, they will be honorably transferred to Washington State Veterans Cemetery 21702 W Espanola Rd, Medical Lake, WA, 16 November 2022 where they will be laid to rest with full military honors.
Myra Kinzie died 110 years ago

Tom Keating, Washington State Coordinator of the Missing in America Project, said that all the funeral homes had do is call a federal or state veterans cemetery to have these remains interred.

Butterworth was an independent, family owned business on Capitol Hill in Seattle, which now is part of the Dignity Memorial chain.



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Flags placed on 7,000 veterans graves at Evergreen Washelli

Sunday, November 13, 2022

Youth groups placing flags on graves of veterans
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Campfire and other youth groups came to Evergreen Washelli at 10am on Friday, November 11, 2022 to place 7,000 flags on the graves of veterans from the Civil War to recent times buried in the Lower Veterans Memorial Cemetery.

Honor guard, followed by NW Junior Pipe and Drum Band
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

At 11am a ceremony included buglers, the NW Junior Pipe and Drum Band, and a color guard from the Washington State Guard. Carol Ridenhour and William MacCully delivered remarks.

Evergreen Washelli is located on Aurora at 111th St NE. The Cemetery was founded in 1884 by David T. Denny (1832-1903) and his wife Louisa Boren Denny (1827-1916) 



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96th Service of Remembrance at Evergreen-Washelli

Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Service of Remembrance

Evergreen-Washelli held the 96th annual Service of Remembrance for Memorial Day to honor service members who died in service to our country.

Volunteers gathered early to place small flags at each grave and large flags along the main road.

The NW Junior Pipe Band

The Northwest Junior Pipe Band led in the procession of participants in the ceremony.

Visiting the graves

After the formal ceremony, people spread out to visit the graves.

--Diane Hettrick. All photos by Steven H. Robinson



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WW II American Cemetery in Normandy, France

Monday, May 30, 2022

Former Shoreline Mayor Ron Hansen at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in France where 9,386 American servicemen are buried. Photo by Jan Hansen

The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in France is located in Colleville-sur-Mer, on the site of the temporary American St. Laurent Cemetery, established by the U.S. First Army on June 8, 1944 as the first American cemetery on European soil in World War II. 

The cemetery site covers 172.5 acres and contains the graves of 9,386 of our military dead, most of whom lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations. On the Walls of the Missing, in a semicircular garden on the east side of the memorial, are inscribed 1,557 names. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified.

Jan and Ron Hansen (former Mayor of Shoreline, who died in 2015) visited the cemetery in Normandy as part of a tour of World War II sites in northern Europe and said it was a powerful experience.

From Jan: My father and Ron often took times of reflection and thanks. They understood the words of Abraham Lincoln’s address. 

“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us-that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion-that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.” --The Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln



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Memorial Day Service at Acacia in Lake Forest Park

Acacia Veterans Memorial Garden 2012
Photo by Jerry Pickard

Annual Memorial Day Service 11:00am
Monday, May 30, 2022
ACACIA MEMORIAL PARK and FUNERAL HOME

After a two year hiatus because of COVID, we are excited to see the return of our Annual Memorial Day Service.

Please join us this Memorial Day Monday at 11:00am on the grounds of Acacia Memorial Park

It is good that we gather as community to remember, honor, and celebrate those who gave their all in service to our country along with those whom we love who are no longer with us in this physical realm. 

For more information call 206-362-5525



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Memorial Day masses in English and Korean at Holyrood Cemetery in Shoreline


Holyrood Catholic Cemetery at 205 NE 205th St, Shoreline WA 98155 will hold in person masses in both English and Korean for Memorial Day 2022

MEMORIAL DAY MASS IN ENGLISH - HOLYROOD

In person on Monday, May 30, at 10:30am - 11:30am

현충일 미사 MEMORIAL DAY MASS IN KOREAN – HOLYROOD

May 30 @ 1:00pm - 2:00pm

현충일 미사
hyeonchung-il misa

For more information about these or other Masses visit: mycatholiccemetery.org/events/



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Memorial Day Celebration at Evergreen Washelli

Saturday, May 28, 2022

Decorated graves at Evergreen Washelli
Photo by Steven H. Robinson


Evergreen Washelli Will be hosting its
96th ANNUAL MEMORIAL DAY CELEBRATION

Monday, May 30th, 2022

The Veterans Memorial Cemetery at Evergreen Washelli

Please join us in expressing our gratitude for those who dedicated themselves to safeguarding our liberty and for preserving our peace.

8:00 am – Avenue of Flags. At the beginning of the day, our grounds crew will line the main street of the cemetery with American Flags. Each has been donated by families of Veterans in remembrance of their loved one, who are honored with their name and rank in the margin of each flag.
 
10:00 am– Flag placement at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery. Each of the white marble upright markers in the Veterans Section will receive a flag. Veterans and Scout groups, along with members of the community, will place the flags within about half an hour. We will have coffee, cocoa, and cookies for volunteers. The public and media are invited to attend, witness, and participate in this event.

11:00 am - Service of Remembrance. Please join our Veterans Memorial Cemetery Board and Evergreen Washelli staff for a brief memorial service, including participation from the Washington State Guard, members of the NW Junior Drum and Pipe Band, and Chaplain Linda Haptonstall of the King County Sheriff’s Office.

Evergreen Washelli is proud to hold the remains of several Medal of Honor Recipients. We invite you to visit their graves, read their stories and see an image of the medals received. Our Chimes Tower will also be open to the public.

If you have any questions, please contact Evergreen Washelli at 206-362-5200



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Volunteer groups placed 5,000 flags on veterans' graves at Evergreen Washelli

Tuesday, June 1, 2021

Volunteers place flags on graves of veterans
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

The event started at 9:00am with the Northwest Junior Pipe Band (in Shorecrest Robertson Tartans) playing.

The Northwest Junior Pipe Band began the ceremonies
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

Boy and Girl Scouts, Campfire, Veterans, and local citizens placed 5,000 flags at the grave markers for Veterans buried at Evergreen-Washelli Cemetery in north Seattle.

Ron Jones, retired Navy, and Shoreline teacher, was among the volunteers.
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

The task was mostly completed by 10:15am.

This is a return to placing the flags on Memorial Day, In 2020 the event was not conducted due to COVID-19.



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US Army Air Force hero returns home after 78 years

Monday, May 17, 2021


All photos by Douglas Cerretti

The family of U.S. Army Air Forces Tech. Sgt. Alfred F. Turgeon, whose fate was unknown for 78 years, now knows when and where he died. He was accounted for January 13, 2021 after the Army used DNA analysis from remains buried in Europe.

His family moved to Alaska after he enlisted at age 21 to fight for the Allies in World War II.


On Friday, May 14, 2021, Tech. Sgt. Turgeon's remains were received with honors at Evergreen Washelli Cemetery in Seattle, WA for burial next to his sister, Lorraine Bass.

The official procession was led by the American Legion Department of Washington Patriot Guard.

A van with 3’x5’ American Flags and two Guard members arrived at the Evergreen site and dispensed flags to those assembled. Members of American Legion Post 227 were participants in the ceremonies.

A full funeral service was held

Edmonds artist Michael Regan
presented a portrait of Alfred to 
his nephew, David Bass.
In the summer of 1943, Turgeon was a radio operator/waist gunner assigned to the 344th Bombardment Squadron, 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force in North Africa.

On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Turgeon was serving as a waist gunner and radio operator crashed as a result of enemy anti-aircraft fire during Operation TIDAL WAVE, which was the largest bombing mission against Nazi oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania.

Of the 10-man crew, only the captain survived, taken as a prisoner of war.

More than 300 airmen were believed to have died in the operation and another 100 were captured, according to the National World War II Museum. 

Only 33 of 178 B-24s survived the mission.

His remains were not identified following the war. 

The remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiești, Prahova, Romania, then later moved to Belgium.

Alfred F. Turgeon
Enlistment photo
1919 - 1943
According to an article in the Anchorage Daily News by Tess Williams, Turgeon's nephew, David Bass, had volunteered a sample of his DNA several years ago to the POW/MIA Accounting Agency. 

The agency began exhuming remains in 2017 at a Belgian cemetery where 80 American soldiers were believed to have been buried. 

The remains of Turgeon and others were sent to Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska for identification. 

Scientists used the DNA provided by Bass, his cousin and his aunt Joan Cutler, Turgeon’s sister, to make the identification.

And Friday, he came home.



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Separate Even in Death - Black Funerals and Cemeteries

Saturday, October 31, 2020


Separate Even in Death - Black Funerals and Cemeteries

Register here: https://kcls.bibliocommons.com/events/5f73a10a973f073a004a1c46

Saturday, October 31, 2020 from 4 - 5:30pm

Presented by Janice Lovelace, PhD.

Segregation extended into death for African Americans, especially in the Southern U.S. This presentation looks at burial practices for African Americans from the 16th to the 20th century.

Registration required by 6pm on October 29, 2020. You will be sent a Zoom link or phone number on the day of each event.



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A quiet Memorial Day

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Evergreen-Washelli
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

No cannons, rifle shots, marching bands, or speakers this Memorial Day at Evergreen-Washelli Cemetery on Aurora.

Photo by Steven H. Robinson

Volunteers decorated the graves of the war dead with flags, as usual. And a few came to decorate individual graves and just walk quietly.

Young visitors at Evergreen-Washelli
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

At the Shoreline Veterans' Recognition Plaza the flags flew for all the branches of service.

Shoreline Veterans' Recognition Plaza
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

Flags fly for each branch of the armed forces at the Shoreline Veterans' Recognition Plaza.

Memorial bricks on the Plaza
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

A memorial was left for a family member at the Shoreline Veterans' Recognition Plaza. Individual bricks can be engraved to memorialize service members from any branch, any time.

Sunset Ave N in Edmonds
Photo by Lee Lageschulte

On Sunset Ave N in Edmonds, small flags with the name of a service member were placed all along the pathway.





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