Death ends a life, not a relationship…read more
"And if you don't know, now you know." --The Notorious B.I.G. aka Biggie Smalls
Here is a lost place and time. Here is Darkness, not because the light fails to shine, but because vandals refuse to see it.
I was at Reno, Nevada's Hillside Cemetery with family and cousins. Once the city's most prominent cemetery, here are buried many of the community's most important figures. It received its Historical Marker 27 May 2018. So far, repeated public outcry has stopped this 5-acre cemetery from being commercially developed because of its great view of downtown Reno.
Hillside Cemetery was established in 1875 after first being named Reno Cemetery in the 1860s. Originally it was one large cemetery. Today, it is divided into four parts: The Hillside Cemetery, Knights of Pythias Cemetery, Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery and the Hebrew Cemetery.
We then walked over to the Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery and Civil War Plot Historical Marker #79. It's located at 39.536177°N 119.820027°W, just west of Angel St. and W. 10th Street, on the north side of W. 10th Street, Reno, Nevada. The burial records of these Veterans are at University of Nevada, Reno. Special Collections Department. https://archive.library.unr.edu/public/repositories/2/resources/1811/collection_organization There are 82 documented Civil War Veterans, and some of their loved ones, in this cemetery. We will always remember them. Veterans who Served not because the Veteran hated what was in front of 'em, but because the Veteran loved what was behind 'em. We will never forget them for although we don't know them all, we owe them all; for here are Veterans who Served for Duty, Honor and Country.
The Grand Army of the Republic "GAR" was founded in 1866, composed of Veterans of the Union Army, the Union Navy, the Union Marines and the Revenue Cutter Service who Served in the American Civil War for the Federal forces. Women were also members, as several women had Served continuing women's American military Service beginning in the American War For Independence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Army_of_the_Republic#Female_members
The General O.M. Mitchel Post No. 69, Grand Army of the Republic purchased the land in 1890 for $180 in gold coin to be used as a military burial plot for their comrades-in-arms during the 1861-1865 Civil War. They made it a place of beauty.
The Adjutant-General of Nevada, the senior uniformed officer, reported to the Nevada Governor as the Commander-in-Chief, that during the Civil War 34 officers and 1,158 enlisted men, all from Carson City, Virginia City, Reno, and Dayton, had voluntarily enlisted in military Service from Nevada. Nevada had fewer than 40,000 inhabitants when it gained statehood, far fewer than the population at statehood of any other state. This Nevada military volunteer group and all of the then 17 forts and outposts, training grounds and other military areas is the blueprint for the origins of US Constitution-mandated Nevada state militia, now known as Nevada National Guard.
Nevada's State Motto is "All For Country". Nevada's entry into statehood in the United States on 31 October 1864, during American Civil War, was expedited by Union sympathizers to ensure the state's participation in the 1864 presidential election in support of President Abraham Lincoln. Thus Nevada became one of only two states admitted to the Union during the war (the other being West Virginia) and hence the nickname that appears on the Nevada state flag today: "Battle Born".
"Following years of neglect and outrageous vandalism, restoration was initiated in 1963 by the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War and other interested citizens in the Reno area." Sadly, this Veterans cemetery is again neglected and again vandalized by cowards nor traitors. These Veterans gave sacred Service but received profane treatment of vandalism and desecration as vandals, who are cowards and traitors, drove into this Veterans cemetery, over Veterans graves and into Veterans' headstones. This Veterans cemetery is now surrounded by two chain link fences with padlocked gates and a sign reading "Trespass Law Enforced" in large letters to protect it.
At the sight of this tragedy I felt heartbreaking and poignant which reduced me to tears.
How can people drive into a Veterans cemetery, not once, but several times, Sacred and Hallowed ground, then damage Veterans headstones and desecrate Veterans grave sites? For here is a pilgrimage site that evokes feelings of reverence from and for Veterans and their families and friends. Ground consecrated by the Service of those Veterans buried there for us to remember and honor them for their Service for our country's survival and our Freedom.
Today is Thanksgiving 2022. I give thanks for those who work on Thanksgiving Day: our police, healthcare, military.