VA refuses headstone for honored soldier

[babylonsister]

VA refuses headstone for honored soldier
Monday, May 04, 2009 3:00 AM
By Rodney Cress

Special to the Post


It was the cold, dark night of Oct. 27, 1864, when Lt. William B Cushing, commander of the Union Picket Boat No. 1, and 13 officers and men volunteered to attack the Confederate ship CSS Albemarle that was destroying most of the Union ships off the coast of North Carolina.

Their operation was a success, but at a high cost. Two sailors were killed, two escaped and the other 10 were captured.

This act of bravery by the crew was instrumental in the Union defeating the Confederacy. Seven crew members subsequently received the military's highest award, the Medal of Honor, due to their bravery that night.

Lorenzo Deming, a 20-year-old from New Britain, Conn., was one of the soldiers captured in the attack and was later transferred to Salisbury to one of the 11 prison camps established by the Confederates. Deming died in captivity at the age of 21 from pneumonia, his remains thrown in one of the 18 trenches alongside the bodies with 11,700 other Union prisoners that died from disease and starvation at the camp. For 143 years, his grave has been unmarked.

I discovered that Deming was buried in Salisbury's National Cemetery while reading a book on the Civil War. I started research to verify that Deming's remains were, in fact, interred in Salisbury.

Six months and countless hours of research later, I was convinced of my facts and petitioned the V.A. National Cemetery to place a headstone honoring Deming at the facility. I also contacted the Medal of Honor Society. According to facts the society has on hand, Deming is buried in Salisbury in the mass grave. I have lots of documents pulled from history archives that indicate I am correct.

I also contacted U.S. Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina and ranking member of the Senate Veteran Affairs. Mindi Walker, Burr's staff member on Veterans Affairs, delivered my documents to the under secretary of memorial affairs at the Department of Veterans Affairs for review.

On Feb. 17, I received a response from the VA saying that it would not allow a headstone at the grave site of Lorenzo Deming because in 1992 there was a "memorial" headstone placed at a private family cemetery in New Britain, Conn. An internal VA regulation allows only one headstone to be placed per service member.

more...

http://www.salisburypost.com/Opinion/050409-edit-rodney-cress



NOTE from Larry Scott, VA Watchdog dot Org

Once again, the VA is just saying that the rules are the rules instead of using some common sense about this matter. Also ... if you Google Rodney Kress, the author of the article below, you will find a lot of information about a Vietnam veteran who now serves as a volunteer veterans' advocate.

[LiberalFighter]

1. I would have to support the rule in this case. Unless...

the family wants to have the headstone at the private family cemetery moved to the National Cemetery.

If they still want a headstone at their private cemetery I would suggest that money be raised for that headstone and move the original to the National Cemetery.