government may mark military graves without next-of-kin
brenda kellow
august 17, 2014
To get a headstone or marker for a deceased soldier prior to 2012, only service agencies, military researchers, historians or genealogists could request a marker when providing proper documentation. After that date, headstone requests were limited to the veteran’s next-of-kin or authorized family representative. That proves difficult if that soldier served in the Civil War or older graves because the descendants may be difficult to find.
If this proposed bill passes, the Portman-Tester bill, it will once again be easier to get the graves of those older graves marked to show their service to our country.
Called the “Honor Those Who Served Act of 2014”, it would allow family members, genealogists, historians, military researchers and veterans service agencies to request a free headstone or marker for a deserving veteran’s grave from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). It would not honor replacement of illegible or damaged markers.
We can only hope the bill passes so we can once again mark military graves.
USING GOOGLE ALERTS: Have you heard of Google Alerts? There has been renewed talk at meetings concerning the benefits of Google Alerts for researching family history. I have been using it for several years. I look forward each morning to opening my computer to see what Google Alerts has found over the last 24 hours on someone I am searching. You may want to only go through the Alerts once a week or so. It is your choice. The search is free and one all genealogists should use.
There is no end to the information you may find. While searching a great uncle, Chesborough McKenzie-Kennedy, I had many newspaper articles on his inventions that were patented, but I could not find the patents. Google Alerts solved that problem. One morning I awoke to find that Google Alerts had found his tail gun patent and several other patents concerning aviation. It also found patents by another person I research, Joseph Kellow. This is wonderful especially since I did not have to fly to Washington, D.C. to research the National Archives. In addition, I no longer have to hunt for the newest information on a person that recently came online.
Alerts are free and so simple and easy to use. It does my research for me without going outside the house! If you have not used it yet, then you are missing a wonderful tool for finding your people. You may have to apply for a free Google email address, but that is simple, too.
All you have to do is go to www.google.com/alerts and sign in to your Google account. The first time you create an alert, click on “You don’t have any Google Alerts. Try creating one.” From there another screen pops up and there you fill in the information it asks for. Do not use a common name like Jones, Kelly, or Smith. Instead, try one not so common. Use first and last name. You can even put their name in quotes such as, “Joseph and Matilda Kellow of Northampton County, PA”. If the ancestor lived somewhere else in addition to what you selected, make another Alert in quotes using the name and alternate residence.
Google Alerts is a wonderful research tool, it’s free, and it’s just like having a personal researcher, only cheaper!
SCOTLAND RECONSTRUCTING MEDIEVAL SCOTS: The University of Dundee is reconstructing the faces of 390 remains from South Leith Parish Church in 2009, near Edinburgh. This is accomplished through forensic pathology. It determines approximate age, sex, cause of death as in childbirth or infections disease and diet that consisted mainly of dairy and fish.
This is such a fascinating report. Look at the faces of these people at www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2708381/Are-YOUR-ancestors-Faces-400-medieval-Scots-reconstructed-skulls-unearthed-cemetery.html. I was amazed that they looked like so many people we would see in this area. I admit I felt the same way about the people in Ireland when I was there.
Brenda Kellow has a bachelor's degree in history, teaches, and lectures on genealogy. Before retiring to publish her family’s histories in 2007, Brenda held certification as a Certified Genealogist and as a Certified Genealogical Instructor. Send reunion announcements, books to review, and genealogy queries to: [email protected].
If this proposed bill passes, the Portman-Tester bill, it will once again be easier to get the graves of those older graves marked to show their service to our country.
Called the “Honor Those Who Served Act of 2014”, it would allow family members, genealogists, historians, military researchers and veterans service agencies to request a free headstone or marker for a deserving veteran’s grave from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). It would not honor replacement of illegible or damaged markers.
We can only hope the bill passes so we can once again mark military graves.
USING GOOGLE ALERTS: Have you heard of Google Alerts? There has been renewed talk at meetings concerning the benefits of Google Alerts for researching family history. I have been using it for several years. I look forward each morning to opening my computer to see what Google Alerts has found over the last 24 hours on someone I am searching. You may want to only go through the Alerts once a week or so. It is your choice. The search is free and one all genealogists should use.
There is no end to the information you may find. While searching a great uncle, Chesborough McKenzie-Kennedy, I had many newspaper articles on his inventions that were patented, but I could not find the patents. Google Alerts solved that problem. One morning I awoke to find that Google Alerts had found his tail gun patent and several other patents concerning aviation. It also found patents by another person I research, Joseph Kellow. This is wonderful especially since I did not have to fly to Washington, D.C. to research the National Archives. In addition, I no longer have to hunt for the newest information on a person that recently came online.
Alerts are free and so simple and easy to use. It does my research for me without going outside the house! If you have not used it yet, then you are missing a wonderful tool for finding your people. You may have to apply for a free Google email address, but that is simple, too.
All you have to do is go to www.google.com/alerts and sign in to your Google account. The first time you create an alert, click on “You don’t have any Google Alerts. Try creating one.” From there another screen pops up and there you fill in the information it asks for. Do not use a common name like Jones, Kelly, or Smith. Instead, try one not so common. Use first and last name. You can even put their name in quotes such as, “Joseph and Matilda Kellow of Northampton County, PA”. If the ancestor lived somewhere else in addition to what you selected, make another Alert in quotes using the name and alternate residence.
Google Alerts is a wonderful research tool, it’s free, and it’s just like having a personal researcher, only cheaper!
SCOTLAND RECONSTRUCTING MEDIEVAL SCOTS: The University of Dundee is reconstructing the faces of 390 remains from South Leith Parish Church in 2009, near Edinburgh. This is accomplished through forensic pathology. It determines approximate age, sex, cause of death as in childbirth or infections disease and diet that consisted mainly of dairy and fish.
This is such a fascinating report. Look at the faces of these people at www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2708381/Are-YOUR-ancestors-Faces-400-medieval-Scots-reconstructed-skulls-unearthed-cemetery.html. I was amazed that they looked like so many people we would see in this area. I admit I felt the same way about the people in Ireland when I was there.
Brenda Kellow has a bachelor's degree in history, teaches, and lectures on genealogy. Before retiring to publish her family’s histories in 2007, Brenda held certification as a Certified Genealogist and as a Certified Genealogical Instructor. Send reunion announcements, books to review, and genealogy queries to: [email protected].
