thedrifter
09-12-05, 02:18 PM
A century later, a hero's bravery is recognized again
Tribute to lost medal winners brings sleuth to Tulocay on 9-11
Monday, September 12, 2005
By CARLOS VILLATORO
Register Staff Writer
The year was 1900 and 28-year-old U.S. Marine Henry William Heisch was working to quell the Boxer Rebellion in China. Under heavy enemy fire, Heisch and three fellow Marines crossed a river to get into Tietsen and destroyed buildings that were occupied by Boxers, an army of Chinese residents who were against foreign influence in their homeland.
For his actions Heisch was awarded the highest military honor, the Congressional Medal of Honor.
On Sunday, more than a century later, Heisch again received recognition for his bravery.
At his resting place in Tulocay Cemetery, amateur genealogist Debbie Peevyhouse of San Jose unveiled a new sign at Heisch's monument, noting his Medal of Honor.
"We have all these heroes here that are just forgotten," Peevyhouse said.
Currently, she said, 41 Medal of Honor recipients are at rest at sites that do not note their accomplishments. Peevyhouse, 51, has made it her mission to find each one and ensure that the graves mark the bravery of the deceased. She began her project in June when she was contacted by Findagrave.com to help find the resting place of Medal of Honor recipient Marine Corps Sgt. Edward Alexander Walker.
"Peevyhouse said she visited the right San Jose cemetery, but, "they said he wasn't buried there."
After three weeks of walking around the cemetery, searching grave-by-grave for a sign of Walker, she found him.
"I was horrified to see that he was not marked Medal of Honor recipient," she said.
With the assistance of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society and Women's American GI Forum, Peevyhouse managed to raise the $675 to mark Walker's grave. She had some money left over, she said, so she decided to find and mark the stones of Heisch and Sgt. Ovila Cayer.
Walker's new marker was unveiled Saturday at Oak Hill Funeral Home and Memorial Park in San Jose. The next day, Peevyhouse traveled to Tulocay to visit Heisch. On Sept. 24, Peevyhouse will visit Garden of Memories Memorial Park in Salinas to attend to Cayer's grave.
Peevyhouse sleuthed out the gravesites with the help of fellow genealogists and Web sites including Findagrave.com and Houseofheroes.com. Heisch was born on June 10, 1872, in Germany, Peevyhouse said, and joined Marine Corps' 1st Regiment. Like Heisch, Walker also battled the Boxer Rebellion. He helped deflect Boxer attacks from the city of Peking and earned a Medal of Honor along with four fellow Marines.
Cayer was born in 1844 and died in 1909. He was a Union sergeant during the Civil War. During a battle at Weldon Railroad in Virginia on Aug. 18, 1864, Cayer took command of his regiment and fended off Confederate attacks for three days.
For Peevyhouse, whose husband and several family members served in the military, researching and tracing the Medal of Honor recipients has been a fun and challenging hobby, she said.
She's currently trying to locate the families of Charles Parker, whose buried at a cemetery at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, and Charles Kauffman, who died in 1905 in San Mateo County. An extra layer of intrigue surrounds Kauffman; Peevyhouse said he received his Medal of Honor under the name John Chapman.
Ellie
Tribute to lost medal winners brings sleuth to Tulocay on 9-11
Monday, September 12, 2005
By CARLOS VILLATORO
Register Staff Writer
The year was 1900 and 28-year-old U.S. Marine Henry William Heisch was working to quell the Boxer Rebellion in China. Under heavy enemy fire, Heisch and three fellow Marines crossed a river to get into Tietsen and destroyed buildings that were occupied by Boxers, an army of Chinese residents who were against foreign influence in their homeland.
For his actions Heisch was awarded the highest military honor, the Congressional Medal of Honor.
On Sunday, more than a century later, Heisch again received recognition for his bravery.
At his resting place in Tulocay Cemetery, amateur genealogist Debbie Peevyhouse of San Jose unveiled a new sign at Heisch's monument, noting his Medal of Honor.
"We have all these heroes here that are just forgotten," Peevyhouse said.
Currently, she said, 41 Medal of Honor recipients are at rest at sites that do not note their accomplishments. Peevyhouse, 51, has made it her mission to find each one and ensure that the graves mark the bravery of the deceased. She began her project in June when she was contacted by Findagrave.com to help find the resting place of Medal of Honor recipient Marine Corps Sgt. Edward Alexander Walker.
"Peevyhouse said she visited the right San Jose cemetery, but, "they said he wasn't buried there."
After three weeks of walking around the cemetery, searching grave-by-grave for a sign of Walker, she found him.
"I was horrified to see that he was not marked Medal of Honor recipient," she said.
With the assistance of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society and Women's American GI Forum, Peevyhouse managed to raise the $675 to mark Walker's grave. She had some money left over, she said, so she decided to find and mark the stones of Heisch and Sgt. Ovila Cayer.
Walker's new marker was unveiled Saturday at Oak Hill Funeral Home and Memorial Park in San Jose. The next day, Peevyhouse traveled to Tulocay to visit Heisch. On Sept. 24, Peevyhouse will visit Garden of Memories Memorial Park in Salinas to attend to Cayer's grave.
Peevyhouse sleuthed out the gravesites with the help of fellow genealogists and Web sites including Findagrave.com and Houseofheroes.com. Heisch was born on June 10, 1872, in Germany, Peevyhouse said, and joined Marine Corps' 1st Regiment. Like Heisch, Walker also battled the Boxer Rebellion. He helped deflect Boxer attacks from the city of Peking and earned a Medal of Honor along with four fellow Marines.
Cayer was born in 1844 and died in 1909. He was a Union sergeant during the Civil War. During a battle at Weldon Railroad in Virginia on Aug. 18, 1864, Cayer took command of his regiment and fended off Confederate attacks for three days.
For Peevyhouse, whose husband and several family members served in the military, researching and tracing the Medal of Honor recipients has been a fun and challenging hobby, she said.
She's currently trying to locate the families of Charles Parker, whose buried at a cemetery at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, and Charles Kauffman, who died in 1905 in San Mateo County. An extra layer of intrigue surrounds Kauffman; Peevyhouse said he received his Medal of Honor under the name John Chapman.
Ellie