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Eagle Scout project honors deceased veterans buried in Mount Holly Springs Cemetery

The Sentinel - 5/28/2021

May 28—Were it not for Casey Essig, William F. Kennedy could have remained a casualty of history lost and forgotten on hallowed ground surrounded by hundreds of tombstones.

A Boy Scout with Troop 170 in Mount Holly Springs, Essig led a group of volunteers who discovered that something very important was missing from the gravesite of Kennedy, a Civil War veteran.

The flag holder was gone or maybe it had never been placed there at all. Kennedy had been overlooked, passed over by circumstances.

But all that changed during a ceremony Thursday afternoon when Essig and Scout Master John Reese restored for Kennedy the glory of being identified as a soldier of the Grand Army of the Republic.

Cumberland County officials thanked Essig for his work and grit on an Eagle Scout project that brought recognition of service back to 178 veterans buried in the Mount Holly Springs Cemetery.

"We should honor the people," said Essig, 15, a freshman at Boiling Springs High School. "We should give them as much respect as we do for the people who are still alive, even more. Because of them, we can sleep at night and do not have to worry about anything."

Due to the research done by Essig, Kennedy is more than just a name on a tombstone. The youth found an obituary that described the Union veteran as a well-known and highly respected citizen of Mount Holly Springs.

"He was a loving husband and father, quiet and unassuming, but an industrious, upright man, whose death will be regretted by a large circle of friends," the death notice reads. "For about a half century, Mr. Kennedy was a faithful employee of the Holly Paper Mills."

The project

Frustration triggered the idea that challenged Essig to document the precise locations of those veterans within the first 11 rows of the cemetery who were missing a flag holder

For years, the scouts of Troop 170 have put flags on the graves of veterans buried in the cemetery, Reese said. "We always have extras. We know we have missed some." But without precise locations, there was nothing the scouts could do but leave knowing the job was not complete.

Essig wanted to change that so he recruited 12 teams of two volunteers each that included fellow scouts and scout parents. Each team was assigned a different section of the first 11 rows of tombstones, the oldest part of the cemetery.

Using a clipboard and paper, volunteers went through and jotted down the names of all males, 18 and over, who may have served in the military. Each name was then cross-referenced with a 1982 plot map and lists of dead veterans from Cumberland and surrounding counties.

Of the hundreds of tombstones surveyed, 292 marked the remains of servicemen who participated in every conflict from the War of 1812 to the Vietnam War. Further research determined that 178 graves were missing flag holders. The Cumberland County office of Veterans Affairs has since ordered new flag holders to adorn those graves.

"Today, it is an honor for me and Cumberland County to be able to do this," Danny Osten, director of veterans affairs, said during the ceremony Thursday. "When Casey's letter first came to us in the office, we were amazed but so happy to learn that this young man had researched and found the graves of veterans who were not recognized with a military marker.

"This is just a continuation of that service to country," Osten said. "To have another generation step up and take on what amounted to be a big project. It was just a great thing that this young man did."

When asked, Osten said there were probably other graves in other cemeteries across Cumberland County missing flag holders. He said the majority of the veterans, identified by the Eagle Scout project, were Civil War soldiers.

Veterans of bygone wars are sometimes forgotten because they no longer have local relatives to remember and advocate for them, Osten said. "They do not have that family connection. That's what we rely on to have flag holders replaced. They slowly fall off that list."

The challenge

But the task of documenting 178 graves was not easy. To complete his project, Essig put in 2,377 hours over about two years. The complications started with the tombstones — some of which were so weathered, the inscriptions were hard to read.

Volunteers were hesitant to do rubbings because it could damage the stone, Essig said. Instead, they used a finger and some water to clean the surface or took photographs with a cellphone.

"One of the biggest challenges was making sure we were documenting the graves correctly in the blocks," Reese said. The name of the plot owner on the map did not always match the person buried in the ground, he said.

The paperwork behind the project was often a nightmare, Essig said. There were times when he was tempted to bail out of the effort. But Essig followed through because he wanted to finish what he started.

Much of the research involved verifying the military service of a person who may have been a veteran. For part of the work, online resources were used, but even the internet has its limits.

Casey's grandmother, Pattie Essig, mentioned that the website Find a Grave often had photos of the tombstone, but no plot or section number to cross-check with the cemetery map. Landmarks pictured around the tombstone had limited value and a grave marker that is flat and flush with the ground could be anywhere within the cemetery.

"I helped him with the research and data entry," Pattie Essig said of her grandson. "I'm really happy with what he's achieved. He's going to further, but I don't know what that may be."

Others present at the ceremony recognized Casey Essig and his potential.

"The energy, the drive,to say that I'm impressed is an understatement," county Commissioner Gary Eichelberger said. "Casey, we want to thank you for the work you have done in searching for veterans whose final resting place would otherwise have been forgotten or lost to us. Were it not for your due diligence and patriotism, we would not have that record secure."

In her comments, fellow commissioner Jean Foschi said only 4% of Boy Scouts achieve the rank of Eagle. Aside from an extensive service project, a scout needs a minimum of 21 merit badges to qualify.

Casey Essig has 36 badges, Foschi said. "He is going above and beyond as an Eagle Scout and setting himself up for much in life."

Email Joseph Cress at jcress@cumberlink.com.

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