 | Frank Bergquist graduated from Eddyville, IA, high school in 1958. After graduation, he entered the Army, serving 20 years in Missouri, Maryland, New Mexico, Germany, Iowa, Turkey, Kansas, S.E. Asia, and finally retiring in 1978 in Louisiana. Before retiring, Frank was assigned as an ROTC instructor at WSU and Kemper Military School until 1974. In 1978 he served as the Non-Commissioned officer in charge of operations at Fort Polk, LA. He has served as the Veterans Counselor (DVOP) with the Kansas Job Service Center National Service Office, with the Disabled American Veterans at the VA Regional Office in Wichita; Veterans Employment and Training Coordinator with the US Dept. of Labor at Ft. Riley, KS; Service Coordinator with Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation; Dept Adjutant-Treasurer and the Dept. Executive Director Dept. of Kansas Disabled American Veterans; and past President of the Wichita Civil War Round Table. Currently he is doing graduate work as an instructor in Genealogy and Military History at Wichita State and Kansas State Universities, and is the CEO for the Disabled American Veterans Thrift Stores in Wichita, KS. Bergquist has an AA from Kemper Military School and College from Boonville, MO. and a BGS from Wichita State University. He can be reached by telephone at 316-262-6501. He is located at 926 N. Mosley Wichita 67214. |
Veteran Affairs
2009-07-01 11:56:00
Remembering Civil War veterans
Question: Kansas of course wasn’t the center of the Civil War, but we had many soldiers die. Today, many of the grave markers are worn smooth. Is anything being done to remedy this?
Answer: Kansas had a lot going on during the Civil War and the period immediately before it. There were the usual blood feuds in the style of John Brown or William Quantrill; the actual list is plentiful. Check on any computer connected to the Internet and you will see what is available in Kansas.
Every fairly old cemetery in Kansas will have its share of Civil War veterans. A friend of mine is cataloging the cemeteries. He runs the Kansas Virtual Civil War Veteran Cemetery. His count as of June 10, 2009 is:
Photos and Videos :113,424
Photostreams: 36,794
Sets: 30,294
Collections: 106
It is a labor of love for him; he gets no funds for doing this.
My idea of fun is to find unmarked or unreadable Civil War graves in cemeteries. If the stone is worn so much that it can’t be read, the VA will furnish a replacement marker. But the cost of installing it is not included. Local veterans groups may take care of this, but don’t depend on it, check first. The cemetery records may show what the marker should show. Check with the local genealogical society also, they may have transcribed the cemetery records. They can also help in locating cemeteries. Other civic organizations may also help.
The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War have a National Graves Registration Project. The project was established in 1996. Since then, hundreds of dedicated people from within and without the SUVCW have devoted thousands of hours of their time and energy visiting cemeteries, recording, verifying, researching and entering the final resting places of Civil War veterans. There are two separate sections to this database. Anyone can view the listings, but to list you most be approved. The Web site SUVCW.org will give you further details.
It is the SUVCW’s hope that this online database program will promote increased interest in the SUVCW National Graves Registration Project and have an entirely new level of achievement. Depending on the source referenced, there were between 4.2 and 4.8 million Union Civil War veterans. Due to mass burials, unreported battlefield losses, burials at sea and other circumstances, we can never expect to register all Union graves, but we can succeed in honoring the “boys in blue” to the best of our ability.
