Catholic War Veterans honor the dead by placing hundreds of crosses in Savannah cemetery
Come each Memorial Day weekend in Savannah, the landscape of the city's Catholic Cemetery takes slightly new form.
Visitors who turn off Wheaton Street into the somewhat secluded burial grounds on Savannah's east side are greeted with rows of white crosses stretching down the cemetery's roads as far as they can see. Each cross holds the name of a deceased veteran, the conflict and military branch in which they served.
Catholic War Veterans & Auxiliary Post 1943 started this tradition, creating a memorial akin to a temporary Normandy American Cemetery, in 2010 with just 25 crosses. This year the number of crosses approached 600.
"It really is heartwarming and a good feeling that you remember somebody, that you remember the veterans, that you remember the people that did what they did for you," said CWV Post 1943 Commander Mark Miller, whose father's name is on one of the crosses. Crosses can be requested through CWV Post 1943.
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Active duty
On the Wednesday before Memorial Day weekend this year, a group of about 40 people, including 26 members of Benedictine Military school's Raider Team, placed those crosses across the cemetery.
The process was not as simple as just hammering a stake into the ground. It started with CWV members using PVC pipe to measure out uniform spaces between crosses. They marked the spots with a dot of white spray paint then Benedictine cadets came behind, using a tall metal rod to pound a slit into the ground.
A pickup truck full of crosses traversed the cemetery roads and teams of volunteers placed the crosses at the foot of each spot. More groups of cadets followed to finally hammer the crosses into the ground.
The first sounds of spray paint and pounding metal started ringing out just before 9 a.m., the group broke for lunch at right about 11 a.m. after all the crosses were placed.
In 2015, the CWV added a "field Mass" service as part of the memorial. This year's Mass will take place on Thursday, May 23, and will feature a homily from Benedictine Headmaster Frank Ziemkiewicz, who served as a U.S. Army chaplain during a tour of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Ziemkiewicz said his goal in the homily is to thank veterans for their sacrifices and remind the families of fallen soldiers that they are not forgotten.
"It's just a wonderful tradition the Catholic war vets have established in the Savannah community," Ziemkiewicz said.
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Tim Ansley, who was elected Veteran of the Year in 2023 by the Veterans Council of Chatham County, has been involved with the memorial since its inception. Ansley was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War in 1966, he said.
Ansley said the idea started on a whim after the CWV helped bring the large Catholic crucifix to the war memorial site at the cemetery. The group wanted to find more ways to conduct memorials, and so they started with about 25 crosses, Ansley said.
"To be honest with you, we never knew we would be in the 500s now," Ansley said.
Ziemkiewicz said the continuance of the memorial is important in helping younger generations understand the sacrifices made by veterans. Recent Benedictine graduate Maddox Clark has participated in placing the crosses with the Raider Team for three years.
Maddox said the memorial was important to him because he has seen what service members give from his father and grandfather, who served in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army, respectively.
"Remembering people for what they did, that means a lot to me," Clark said.
Evan Lasseter is the city and county government reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at ELasseter@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Catholic War Veterans place crosses to honor veterans for Memorial Day
