SIEZING THE HIGH GROUND:
SAVING THE MOUNT MORIAH 96
WWRiders;
In the closing paragraphs of his farewell address to Congress, on 19 April 1951, General Douglas MacArthur said;
“I am closing my 52 years of military service. When I joined the Army, even before the turn of the century, it was the fulfillment of all of my boyish hopes and dreams. The world has turned over many times since I took the oath on the plain at West Point, and the hopes and dreams have long since vanished, but I still remember the refrain of one of the most popular barrack ballads of that day which proclaimed most proudly that "old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“And like the old soldier of that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty.
Good Bye."
Any “old soldier” with a life and career as distinguished as that of General MacArthur has earned the right to “fade away” with dignity. A life marked by periods of violence in response to violence done, or preparation for violence to answer violence threatened, all for the sake of ultimate peace, deserves peace itself at the end.
It has always been the nature of wars that they are planned by the experienced (the old), and fought by the strong (young.) As surely as old soldiers fade away, young ones often die deaths as sudden as they are cruel. In the Ardennes American Cemetery south of Brussels stands a bronze statue of a youth. It keeps watch over the field of more than 5,000 graves, a constant reminder of the young age of most of the dead. Youth is fleeting for those who survive to grow old. It is only the dead who remain forever young. If a long life of service deserves to end in a peaceful fade, what do those other lives deserve at the end, the young ones, ripped away from us too soon, vital lives snuffed out in a flash of heat and metal?
PFC Robert “Bobby” Dembowski, US Army, stands at the grave of his grandfather, who was a WWII veteran and who died a natural death at the end of a long life. Bobby was home on leave, and his mother Francine Dembowski says that “Bobby” wanted his grandfather to “see” him in his Army uniform. So he polished his boots & brass, donned that uniform and together they drove to the cemetery. Bobby was proud of his Grandfather's service, and he wanted his Grandfather to be proud of him. Six months after this photograph was taken, Bobby was killed in combat, in Iraq . He now lies buried not 20 yards from where he stands in this photo. Grandfather and Grandson deserve to be perpetually memorialized by a grateful nation.
If we as a free people have any obligation to those who paid for that freedom in blood, the least part of that obligation would be to remember them with honor when their time on Earth is over. There are always exceptions, but for the most part Americans do that well. Memorial Day, in our time, a time when our nation is at war, is taken seriously by most, thank God. The VA does an admirable job of maintaining our nation's veteran's cemeteries (despite the horror stories we've heard recently about mismanagement in Arlington .) There are few sights more stirring than that of row upon regimented row of identical gleaming white grave markers, standing in perpetual military precision on meticulously maintained blankets of green grass, all for the sake of the memory of our dead. It's a sight that is repeated across the country and around the world – here at Arlington , or Normandy in France , or Ardennes in Belgium , or Cambridge or Flanders Field or Luxembourg or Lorraine or Manila or Sicily or North Africa – in every place where American blood was spilled for the sake of human liberty.
Philadelphia National Veterans Cemetery, in the Germantown section of the city, maintained by the VA. Photo by Kat Fialkowski of the American Warriors' Watch Coalition.
Part of the nobility of the sacrifices made by American soldiers is that they risk or spill their blood not to conquer, but to liberate. Not to invade, but to drive out invaders. Not even to kill, but to stop killing. Colin Powell put it this way:
[F]ar from being the Great Satan, I would say that we are the Great Protector. We have sent men and women from the armed forces of the United States to other parts of the world throughout the past century to put down oppression. We defeated Fascism. We defeated Communism. We saved Europe in World War I and World War II. We were willing to do it, glad to do it. We went to Korea . We went to Vietnam . All in the interest of preserving the rights of people.
And when all those conflicts were over, what did we do? Did we stay and conquer? Did we say, "Okay, we defeated Germany . Now Germany belongs to us? We defeated Japan , so Japan belongs to us"? No. What did we do? We built them up. We gave them democratic systems which they have embraced totally to their soul. And did we ask for any land? No , the only land we ever asked for was enough land to bury our dead. And that is the kind of nation we are.
Whether the heroes under those stones died violently in war or were interred later, at the peaceful natural end of life in a plot reserved for them by their country, these places are suffused with dignity and set aside for them by a grateful nation. You can feel it in the air, you sense it through the soles of your feet when you tread on hallowed ground.
At least, this is how it is in VA cemeteries, where perpetual maintenance is funded by the American Taxpayer. In privately owned cemeteries, however, there are sometimes problems with maintenance, even the maintenance of the most deserving of American heroes and icons. Here the right to dignity that was so hard won by American warriors is often denied.
In Philadelphia there is a cemetery that was once one of the most beautiful in the country. Incorporated in 1855, “ Mount Moriah Cemetery ” was built in keeping with a concept that originated in Paris of large pastoral cemeteries. Mount Moriah became one of many cemeteries at the time that put a bucolic rural cemetery within the grasp of much of Philadelphia 's middle class.
In time Mount Moriah grew to 380 acres and became the resting place for over 80,000 citizens, both the ordinary and the famous (like Betsy Ross, though her remains were moved to the Betsy Ross house in Philadelphia in the run-up to 1976 bi-centennial celebrations.) Also buried in Mount Moriah are Over 5,000 war veterans from the Civil War onward, most of those graves scattered about throughout the grounds.
Most of Mount Moriah has fallen into dark disrepair. Recent news accounts describe a forlorn place of overgrown brush, the ideal attraction that draws dumping, prostitutes and drug users. The cemetery is situated in a low-income urban area of Philadelphia whose residents have no connection to those buried there.
Packs of wild dogs roam among the crumbling mausoleums and fallen stones, searching for food. It has always been a privately owned cemetery, and now the “owners” are denying ownership in an attempt to avoid responsibility and liability in connection with the deteriorating cemetery.
Within the grounds some churches, institutions and fraternal organizations were able to establish their own subsections. Some of those subsections are well maintained, even today, and especially in contrast to most of the grounds around them. One such subsection is owned by the Military Order of the Loyal Legions of the United States (MOLLUS). MOLLUS is a fraternal organization whose members are direct descendants of civil war soldiers, and it is for civil war soldiers that this plot is set aside.
This statue stood vigil over the Mount Moriah 96” who were buried here. The statue is no longer there – it was stolen, but has since been recovered..
The MOLLUS-owned plot holds the graves of 96 civil war soldiers. 96 American boys who fought for freedom and who either died violently in American's bloodiest war or, as in other veterans cemeteries, survived to live out their lives in (we hope) peace before being buried in this Civil War Veteran's plot of ground.
According to Major Techner of MOLLUS: "Our plot is commonly called the “Soldiers Home” Lot . Most of the veterans buried there were hospitalized there or lived there prior to their deaths. Many suffered gunshot wounds and missing limbs. Many died of tuberculosis. A good number of them were from Germany , Ireland and even France . Shortly after their respective arrivals, they gave a blank check with their lives on it to their newly-adopted Nation that offered them Freedom. They then fell sick and wounded with no family to care for them. But they were given dignity and respect and care at the “Soldiers' Home in the City of Philadelphia ” who then gave them their final dignity of a resting place. They have now been forgotten."
The plot is only 250 feet from a lot owned by the Naval Asylum which is already maintained by the VA. That lot contains the remains of 404 Naval veterans of the Civil War and is attached to the MOLLUS lot by a short road. But without the resources of a government agency, MOLLUS is having trouble maintaining their civil war plot. Recently they have attempted to give the plot as a gift to the Veteran's Adminstration, in the hopes that it would then be well maintained into perpetuity. But such a transfer of property is not an easy thing to accomplish in a bureaucracy as big as the VA. If that is to happen, it is going to take time and a lot of help in writing and talking to the politicians involved. It's going to take a lot of bringing the issue to public attention and keeping it there.
“The Mount Moriah 96” as it looks today. Photo courtesy of Major Drew Techner, U.S. Army, and member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legions of the United States.
For those of you who live within a reasonable distance of Philadelphia , I am putting out a call for action. I want you, the Warriors' Watch Riders and friends and supporters, to help me in helping to ensure the perpetual care of the “Mount Moriah 96.” Our intent is threefold:
- Bring public attention to the plight of the 96 Civil War veterans who are buried in the MOLLUS-owned plot in Mount Moriah cemetery.
- Engage in a letter-writing campaign to our local politicians and to the VA asking them to take action to endure the perpetual care of those monuments.
- GET IN THERE AND CLEAN IT UP.
MOLLUS is a small group with limited funds and an aging membership. The most honorable of intentions won't get a patch of lawn mowed or a piece of trash picked up. It takes men and women who are willing to help, Americans not afraid to get dirty. It takes patriots who know that the responsibility for maintaining the ongoing dignity of any veteran memorial ultimately rests with all of us, a duty shared by every American.
One final word about the reasons, the intent, the motivation behind this plea for the preservation of the final resting place of 96 Civil War soldiers:
The author reads the names of Civil War Confederate soldiers buried in a plot of ground behind that monument in the meticulously maintained Philadelphia National Veteran's Cemetery. Photo by Kat Fialkowski, of the American Warriors' Watch Coalition.
We all know someone who is now serving in the US Military, or has served. In many cases that is us. If not us directly, the lives of everyone reading this has been touched by a Soldier, Sailor, Marine or Airman. Many of those died in battle in one of America 's wars. Many more died in old age, having served and survived. Of those, many carried wounds and scars inflicted in combat for the rest of their lives. Men lost arms and legs, or both, and carried that disability with them until they died.
As I wrote above, men and women who served in America 's wars served an honorable cause. In every war they served a noble purpose, because America has never waged a war of aggression. When those warriors are gone, the only thing left for us - the people who live in the state of freedom that their sacrifice has ensured – is to honor them by remembering them and by telling their stories to generations yet to come. If we are to keep our humanity, we dare not forget them or what they did.
I would like to close this by introducing you to an American Veteran, Pvt. Willie Sergeant. Pvt. Sergeant enlisted in the Army at Winfield , Pa. on Sept. 7, 1861. He was only 18 years old, and according to his records was “ 5'4", fair complexion, gray eyes, light hair, a laborer.”
Willie was wounded in the “Battle of Fair Oaks” May 31 and June 1, 1862. His commanding officer was Col. John R. Brooke, Headquarters, Fifty-Third Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers.
Reporting on the battle, Colonel Brooke wrote;
“ The firing during the engagement was very heavy. The time during which we were under fire was nearly four hours. The regiments opposed to us during this action were the Forty-first Virginia , Third Alabama , Fifty-third Virginia , and a regiment supposed to be the Twenty-third Alabama . Also a regiment with black slouch hats, supposed to be Mississippians. My loss is as follows: Killed, 13; wounded, 64; missing, 17; making a total of 94.”
Among the 64 wounded was Willie, who underwent surgery for a "Gun shot wound, both arms, left arm amputated on the field, upper portion of middle third, circular operation. Comminated fracture of right humeras, Arm amputated at this hospital, circular operation. at lower portion of upper third, Both operations successful."
Pvt. Willie Sergeant, US Army
Willie lost both arms in the service to the Preservation of the Union . He died on January 17, 1871 at the age of 27. Willie deserves to be remembered by us. Willie is one of the Mount Moriah 96.
In the weeks and months ahead, I will be initiating efforts to do whatever we can to help to ensure the on-going maintenance of the Mount Moriah 96 by cooperating with The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States in their efforts to find a way to secure future funding for the plot. I'll be opening a public place on the Warriors Watch forums where you can follow the progress of this project and look for updates, reports, and new ways – specific ways – that you can join in and help at whatever level of commitment you are able to give at any point.
We cheer our war heroes, we respect our war veterans, we honor and remember our war dead. From the American Revolution to Afghanistan , we will always remember them – all of them, all the time.
- Wayne
*This newsletter is named "The Weekly Ride" or "The Ride", for short, in memory of and to honor Sgt. Jennifer Hartman, U.S. Army. Sgt. Hartman was killed in Iraq by America's enemies. She died in defense of our freedom at the age of 20. This quote from Jennifer was read at her graveside:
"It's not about what happened in the past. It's not about what might happen in the future. It's about the ride, for Christ's sake."
Click here for a Tribute to Sgt. Jennifer Hartman: "The Ride"
