The headstone of the grave of BJ reporter Jim Carney’s
grandfather has been erected 90 years after his death.
Explains Jim:
“Headstone for my grandfather, Raymond M. Carney, from the VA, installed today at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Wheeling, WV. His grave was unmarked for nearly 90 years until today.
“Luckily, I found his discharge papers in a box in our crazy basement. My father was 3 years old when his father died and he had no memory of him at all. Much thanks to the VA.”
I
wonder what else is struggling to be found in Jim and wife Katie Byard’s Akron basement?
VA is
the Veterans Administration.
Mount
Calvary Cemetery is at 1685 National Road in Wheeling, not far from Oglebay
Resorts and its famed Festival of Lights, six miles of holiday scenes visible
in November and December.
The National
Road aka Cumberland Road (roughly followed by U.S. 40 today) was the first
major improved road to be built by the federal government, starting in 1811,
and eventually ran 620 miles from Cumberland, Maryland and through Wheeling to
Vandalia, Illinois before the project ran out of money.
Charles Ellet, Jr.’s
1,010-foot Wheeling Suspension Bridge, at the time the longest bridge span,
accommodated the National Road. The bridge still is there, albeit spruced up from time to time.
Later, Jim added this postscript:
Our basement is quite insane. We have been trying to sort out clutter and moved a lot of stuff to the basement last winter. Later this year we hope to sift through the basement again.
Later, Jim added this postscript:
"John
Our basement is quite insane. We have been trying to sort out clutter and moved a lot of stuff to the basement last winter. Later this year we hope to sift through the basement again.
"It was really a stroke of luck to have found the
papers. I had my grandfather's two round metal dog tags and a paper from a life
insurance company that congratulated him for his service. He served with an
aviation unit in England. But I did not have the discharge papers which I think
were required. So finding them was a huge thing.
"While covering something at
the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery in the fall -- the government shutdown -- I asked the director about getting headstones for vets. He told me to
look on line. I did and got the form.
"I called the cemetery and spoke to Becky
Breiding there who asked me to send her the form. I sent in the info to the
cemetery including photo copies of his dog tag. She then sent the paperwork to
the VA. So it took less than three months.
"She called me the morning it arrived
and then sent photos of it in place. I still have not received any paperwork
from the VA but she said that often comes after the stone is sent out."
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