... and a surprising bit of information. I have a dear friend who is an Army veteran, in addition to my 'pen pal' friend who served in WWII with my dad. The friend, P., who lives here has been with me to walk around the nearby National Cemetery at Ft. Mitchell, AL. It is owned/operated by the Veteran's Administration, so anyone who has served in a branch of the military can be interred there, as well as spouses of veterans.
I asked her to go with me to walk around the road that meanders through the area, where there are hundreds and hundreds of small white rectangular grave markers. Representing hundreds of service men and women who have been protectors of America and our freedom. I like to go on a holiday weekend, where there are always small flags placed by each of those several thousand grave stones. It is pretty, peaceful, quiet, a reverent, respectful sort of place to be.
The cemetery at Ft. Mitchell was started when the one on the main post at Ft. Benning began to run out of room. And there is plenty of space, out in the woods, where more trees could be cleared as the need for more gravesites occurs. The drive is designed in a big looping sort-of circle, with about twenty sections of neatly mowed lawn, filled with those bright white little upright stones, neatly planted, standing in formation, meticulously spaced rows. With information placed nearby by for the ease of looking up the section, row and number of any one who has been interred there.
As we started out on our walk, were about a third of the way around the loop, some one in a SUV slowed to ask if we needed a ride. We said we didn't, but were just out walking the loop. He said you are not allowed to walk here. We said: 'Really?" He said he constantly runs people off: walkers, skateboarders, bicycle riders, people with dogs. We were astonished. So astounded we did not have the presence of mind to say: we have come to visit a friend.
He was very polite, as well as firm. He had a sticker on his fender that said 'Director'. And looked like a guy who was more than willing to enforce the rules. I can fully understand how people could be in the area and not be respectful of the cemetery. But we didn't even remotely look sketchy.
So all during the rest of our walk, and the drive back to GA, we practiced what we should have said. Things like we are here to visit someone. We are looking for a particular marker. But he's probably already looking us up on some website, to report us as suspicious characters, with the likelihood of being vandals, spray paint in hand. Practicing graffiti when we creep out of the woods to deface government property. Really?
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