thedrifter
04-27-09, 07:16 AM
Local vets restore honor of fallen hero
By Mark Schulman
Times-News Staff Writer
Published: Monday, April 27, 2009 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, April 26, 2009 at 9:53 p.m.
A few local veterans headed south to Macon, Ga., last weekend to restore the gravesite of a Medal of Honor recipient who was killed in action during the Vietnam War.
Nicholas Warr was among three veterans from the Blue Ridge Detachment of the Marine Corps League that refurbished the area where Sgt. Rodney Maxwell Davis was laid to rest in 1967. Warr, George Chandler, Herb Spies and more than 120 other veterans and active duty members were on hand to clean up the grounds.
Warr is chapter treasurer and past president for 1/5 Vietnam Veterans Unit Chapter, 1st Marine Division Association.
Warr said the overhaul was a success after tending to a fallen Marine’s gravesite.
Sgt. Davis, a native of Macon, Ga., was buried with full honors in a family plot in Linwood Cemetery where a large sign was erected and a spotlight was installed illuminating the Marine’s grave. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously after saving several lives in Vietnam during Operation SWIFT. Davis was attached to Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division and died on Sept. 6, 1967. He threw himself on a grenade, sacrificing himself, to save his fellow Marines.
After 42 years, Linwood Cemetery and most of its gravesites have fallen into despair. The spotlight showing Davis’ grave was not operational and the sign that displayed his heroics was faded and broken. Brush and weeds took over much of the cemetery’s 13 acres.
“We completely fixed the gravesite and restored the light and repaired the sign,” Warr said. “Everything went extremely well.”
However, Warr said there is plenty of work still to be done.
They plan on revisiting Linwood Cemetery in six months to continue the restoration.
Last Saturday’s work party was organized by U. S. Marines serving in Bravo Company, 4th Recon Battalion, in Atlanta. Others participating in this effort include the Davis family, the 1/5 Vietnam Veterans Unit Chapter of the 1st Marine Division Association, Montford Point Marine Assn’s chapters in Atlanta, Macon and Albany, Ga., several detachments of the Marine Corps League and the Macon Cemetery Preservation Corporation.
“It was an extraordinary event with generations, the community and Marines coming together,” Warr said.
For more information, contact Nicholas Warr at (828) 243-8708.
Schulman can be reached at (828) 694-7890 or mark.schulman@blueridgenow.com.
Ellie
By Mark Schulman
Times-News Staff Writer
Published: Monday, April 27, 2009 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, April 26, 2009 at 9:53 p.m.
A few local veterans headed south to Macon, Ga., last weekend to restore the gravesite of a Medal of Honor recipient who was killed in action during the Vietnam War.
Nicholas Warr was among three veterans from the Blue Ridge Detachment of the Marine Corps League that refurbished the area where Sgt. Rodney Maxwell Davis was laid to rest in 1967. Warr, George Chandler, Herb Spies and more than 120 other veterans and active duty members were on hand to clean up the grounds.
Warr is chapter treasurer and past president for 1/5 Vietnam Veterans Unit Chapter, 1st Marine Division Association.
Warr said the overhaul was a success after tending to a fallen Marine’s gravesite.
Sgt. Davis, a native of Macon, Ga., was buried with full honors in a family plot in Linwood Cemetery where a large sign was erected and a spotlight was installed illuminating the Marine’s grave. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously after saving several lives in Vietnam during Operation SWIFT. Davis was attached to Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division and died on Sept. 6, 1967. He threw himself on a grenade, sacrificing himself, to save his fellow Marines.
After 42 years, Linwood Cemetery and most of its gravesites have fallen into despair. The spotlight showing Davis’ grave was not operational and the sign that displayed his heroics was faded and broken. Brush and weeds took over much of the cemetery’s 13 acres.
“We completely fixed the gravesite and restored the light and repaired the sign,” Warr said. “Everything went extremely well.”
However, Warr said there is plenty of work still to be done.
They plan on revisiting Linwood Cemetery in six months to continue the restoration.
Last Saturday’s work party was organized by U. S. Marines serving in Bravo Company, 4th Recon Battalion, in Atlanta. Others participating in this effort include the Davis family, the 1/5 Vietnam Veterans Unit Chapter of the 1st Marine Division Association, Montford Point Marine Assn’s chapters in Atlanta, Macon and Albany, Ga., several detachments of the Marine Corps League and the Macon Cemetery Preservation Corporation.
“It was an extraordinary event with generations, the community and Marines coming together,” Warr said.
For more information, contact Nicholas Warr at (828) 243-8708.
Schulman can be reached at (828) 694-7890 or mark.schulman@blueridgenow.com.
Ellie