Associations
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Found on Scribd: Forever Dixie
This book by Douglas Keister (who also wrote Stories in Stone) can be purchased at Scribd for $14.99.
Emily Kennedy
There are many wives and children buried in the St. Augustine National Cemetery, but only one lady veteran. Her name is Emily Kennedy and her story is just beginning to be told.
Thanks to Greg Moore, a retired Florida National Guard officer currently serving as the Command Historian, we have learned that Emily was one of the earliest nurses in the Army Nurse Corps. Born in 1879 in New York City, Emily was the daughter of Irish immigrants. She received her nursing diploma from the Hospital of the Good Shephard in Syracuse in 1902. By 1905 she was a member of the Army Nurse Corps where she served in both New Mexico and California. She left the Army to return to her native New York to care for her mother, but during World War I she joined the Navy Nurse Corps and served at Naval hospitals in Newport, Rhode Island, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Again, she returned to New York and private practice once the war was over.
By 1945, she appears in St. Augustine city directories living in a rooming house. She died here in 1950 and was buried in the National Cemetery.
There’s still a lot to learn about Emily including what may be additional service with the Navy. We don’t know what brought her to St. Augustine or what caused her death, but there’s several people determined to discover the story of this fascinating lady.
Life After Life
Imagine a columbarium that creates life. You’ll find one in the waters off Key Biscayne, Florida. The Neptune Memorial Reef is building a beautiful underwater memorial that is also an artificial reef. Concrete forms such as columns and shells are cast using the ashes of the deceased and then placed on the reef with a brass plaque providing the inscription. The structures have been designed to promote coral growth. The reef is easily accessible to divers and is a frequent destination. As you can see in the video below, the results are beautiful. So now, after you pass you can create “life after life”.
The park-style cemetery is alive and well. It’s just underwater.
Wreaths Across America
Right now at the Worcester Wreath Company in Harrington, Maine, workers are assembling thousands of Christmas wreaths. In early December they will be loaded on trucks and head south – to Arlington National Cemetery. A crew of volunteers will be waiting to place those wreaths on the graves of the men and women who served our country. This same ceremony will happen – on a smaller scale – at hundreds of other cemeteries around our country.
Since 1992, Morrill Worcester and his foundation, Wreaths Across America, have honored our military dead at Christmas. But the foundation is more than just making wreaths. The ceremonies across the country gives volunteers an opportunity to honor our heroes and teach our children how important their service is to our country.
The program continues to grow thanks to the support of the American people. If you would like to sponsor a wreath or volunteer to participate in the wreath-laying ceremony, visit Wreaths Across America for more information.
This year’s wreath-laying will be held on December 12th.