Design courtesy of Footnote Maven
Tucked away in the small town of La Luz is this Catholic Cemetery. The graves range from the un-adorned at all to the elaborate. La Luz has a long history and is a very interesting area.
A few of them have some very interesting statuary. I liked the lamb and hat on this one.
This one was very plain and simply said "Dad". It makes me want to cry somehow, the sentiment is so sweet. And obviously his children know who he is.
We have some more photos from Ft. Stanton, Most of the monuments are simple white crosses with numbered bricks at the base. These that I am posting are some of the fewwith names. I will be trying to do some more background research and will post as I learn.
Eino A. Alanko
Adolf V. Laine
Johan A. Soderback 1928-1978 Born in Kasko Finland
Here are the next 3 stones I am going to try and find out about. What did these men think when they were brought here, so far from any ocean?
Otto Zeitsch
Hermann Neuhoff
Heinrich Renken
Friedrich Steffens
Otto Joseph Ernst
US Merchant Marine
World War II
March 14 1925-Sept 24 2003
These graves were set apart from all the rest, on the other side of the cemetery. Not surprising knowing the sentiment of the times. The first 4 graves are from crew members, the 5th is much more recent, but the only one with them. I imagine maybe he knew the men when he was young. The Columbus a luxury liner with a long history. The first Columbus went to the British as reparation after World War I and was re-named the Homeric. The Columbus that concerns us, was originally named the Hindenburg. The Germans re-named the Hindenburg to replace the first Columbus. Due to war shortages, she finally made her maiden voyage in April, 1924. Her end came on December 19, 1939 when she was scuttled off of the American coast to avoid capture by a British man-o-war. An American cruiser rescued all 579 crew members. How many came to Fort Stanton? Did their families ever know what happened to them?
This was the only headstone that mentioned the Spanish American War. The Spanish American War was over the liberation of Cuba and took place from April - August, 1898. This stone provides no clue as to how old he was so it is hard to guess. I have found some information on the Morrisons in Illinois. Most of them were Civil War era, I am wondering if this is a relative. I am researching this and will keep you updated. You just don't hear much about the Spanish American War. UPDATE: May 27- I am excited! I received a reply from a Mr. Bruce Morrison that I contacted. This is what he told me.