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Look Back: A moment for quiet reflection

By Bob Enoch 3 min read
Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) was initiated to honor the Union soldiers who were killed during the Civil War. It has evolved into a day to honor all military personnel killed in the line of duty and a day when many Americans remember all those who have passed. The military headstones shown honor Adam White and Richard Bowry, the only two Congressional Medal of Honor recipients from Wood County. White is interred in the Wadesville Cemetery, Bowery in Parkersburg Memorial Gardens, formerly known as the Odd Fellows Cemetery. (Photos Provided)

Memorial Day Is Observed Quietly By Parkersburgers

Parkersburg observed Memorial Day quietly, as hundreds of its residents visited cemeteries in and near the city to place fresh flowers on graves and pay silent tribute to the community's dead.

Other hundreds, freed for a day from their jobs, spent the holiday in rest and recreation, enjoyed picnics, golf, swimming, and short automobile trips.

However, state police, here as elsewhere in the state, reported yesterday's traffic was lighter than is usual for Memorial Day.

With stores and business establishments closed, downtown streets were practically deserted. There were no street parades or formal ceremonies.

The city's most popular spot was the municipal swimming pool at City Park, which opened Sunday for the summer season. City Councilman Earl Stephens reported 804 persons paid admission to the pool yesterday.

Local Veterans in Parade

William Satow of Parkersburg, was one of the only three Civil War veterans who appeared in Grafton to lead the parade to the state's only national cemetery for the 58th annual Memorial Day service.

Another veteran in the parade was Thompson McMurray, Washington, W.Va., department commander of the Grand Army of the Republic [GAR].

Excerpt from

The Parkersburg News

May 31, 1939

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While poems seldom appear in Look Back, the following poem, written in 1915 by Canadian soldier, physician and poet, Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae seems most appropriate. I would encourage readers to visit the internet for the story behind "In Flanders Fields:"

In Flanders Fields, the poppies grow,

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky,

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

In closing this year's brief visit to but a few of our cemeteries I would like to express most sincere appreciation to those who help maintain the many family, neighborhood and churchyard cemeteries, not just in Wood County, but wherever. Regarding our early cemeteries, John A. House, who has been often quote, said this: "I know of no place more interesting than a well-kept, well shaded graveyard. The respect we owe our race, ourselves and our own dead, impels a reverential awe when we stand by the last resting place of the departed, possibly in the presence of those whose bodies have long ago crumbled into dust. The spirit of the place seems on us."

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Bob Enoch is president of the Wood County Historical and Preservation Society. If you have comments or questions about Look Back items, please contact him at: roberteenoch@gmail.com, or by mail at WCHPS, PO Box 565, Parkersburg, WV 26102.

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