Eight years ago Frank McKenna, the former Canadian Ambassador to the United States and former Rear Admiral Ian Mack of the Royal Canadain Navy conducted a ceremony at Arlington to honor the first nine men above mentioned.
The service was conducted on Canada Day in 2005 and several members of the military attaché at the embassy accompanied the above two dignitaries to help lay wreaths and show their respects that day. The event was performed at my request and after forwarding materials in support of the request to the embassy.
The service was conducted on Canada Day in 2005 and several members of the military attaché at the embassy accompanied the above two dignitaries to help lay wreaths and show their respects that day. The event was performed at my request and after forwarding materials in support of the request to the embassy.
The embassy staff kindly forwarded several pictures to me of the service performed. At the left are seen members of the army, navy and air force with the Ambassador and Admiral about to present the wreath at the first grave. It is for Henry Peter Russell who earned his medal for actions at Cieufuegos Cuba on 11 May 1898 during the Cable Cutting incident in Spanish American War. His grave is pictured in all three images above. Early blogs brought you this story.
The grave marker of the left is for General Martin McMahon who was awarded his MOH for his bravery at White Oak Swamp back in 1862. Next is the marker for General John C Gilmore, awarded the MOH for actions in 1863 at Salem Heights Va. The third, difficult to read, is the marker for Cpl. Alexander Scott who was awarded his MOH for July 1864 actions at Monocacy Md. And at the right is John Harties Brown who's medal came for bravery at Franklyn Tn in November of 1864.
Regular readers know that all of the men I am researching were not Canadian born. Several had connections to Canada that, in many cases have been explained in past blogs covering each hero. Some have yet to be told in this space. However, of these non-Canadians, seven are buried at Arlington and below are images of their markers.
General Orlando B Wilcox was a well known CW soldier who earned his MOH for actions at the First Battle of Bull Run in July of 1861. Admiral Hobson, as a very young Naval Constructor earned a MOH, not presented till quite a few years later, for his heroism during the sinking of the Merrimac during the Spanish American War. Rules then did not allow a naval officer to be so awarded but these were changed later on. Third above, is that of Colonel Gaujot who's MOH came for bravery in 1911 in Mexico. His brother also was awarded a MOH. He and two other sets of brothers earning the medal all had Canadian connections. There were only about a dozen such sets of brother recipients throughout the entire history of the medal. (Miller, above and from Nova Scotia, being have of one of these sets.) And at the right Robert Guy Robinson earned his medal for incredible bravery while flying a bomber over Belgium in 1918.
Floyd Bennett and Adolphus Greeley were both awarded the Medal of Honor for their work exploring the North Pole, in 1926, and 1935 respectively. And John C Morgan's MOH was awarded for action in bomb runs over Germany in 1943. His actions formed the character in the well known 1949 war movie... Twelve O' Clock High.
More on Wednesday.
Bart
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