Dayton VA Medical Center, Ohio

We can enter the cemetery through the funeral tunnel from Home Hospital. When a soldier dies, a funeral escort follows the flag draped casket. The Home Band plays a solemn requiem, and the firing party discharges three volleys over his grave. The graves are marked with neat head- boards painted white. You notice the words Name Unknown on one of the headboards. Though unknown, he is honored.

On Memorial Day, the Veterans are arranged with military precision to form a procession under the direction of Veteran Post 5, Department of Ohio, Grand Army of the Republic. Here is a copy of the 1885 Memorial Day Program. The old soldiers marched in four grand divisions to the cemetery. Each fallen soldier is honored with grave decorating.

A short distance from the graves stands a noble monument erected to the memory of the fallen heroes by the officers and men of the Central Branch. The words "To Our Fallen Comrades" are engraved on the granite base of the monument. The shaft is of white marble and is a colonnade from the old United States Bank in Philadelphia.

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Virtual Museum