So Saturday the 27th members of Camp Charlotte SAR and the Pickaway Plains DAR attended the festivities at the Mount Oval Down on the farm event. We were placed in a nice shaded barn with a cool breeze which was welcomed, many other activities were available all center around 1700 – 1800 farm life with a few modern exceptions the Log cabin was built shortly before Ohio became a state and was moved to the grounds as a museum of early life on the Ohio frontier, it is currently being restore to period correct as possible be used as an example of early life, but safety has to be followed so some things need to come up to code.. Many passed through and were curious as who the SAR and DAR were and some were even interested in learning more with new memberships possible.
Members of the Camp Charlotte leadership attend the Board of Management at Fort Laurens and the “Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier”. Chapters from all over Ohio and some from West Virginia were there. Our SAR chapter President Kevin Driesbach was honored to be one of the members guarding the Tomb this weekend.
This something Camp Charlotte has not been a part of for a while, but one of our members had the opportunity to welcome a co-worker who had just completed his naturalization requirements. The ceremony took place at the Potter Stewart Federal Courthouse in downtown Cincinnati. The Cincinnati Chapter of the SAR was there to welcome the 60 new citizens with one of them being a co-worker of compatriot Max Demp. With the help of other department personnel they set up a surprise welcoming at work for Cris Lopez. When he saw what we set up for him he was grinning from ear to ear.
This year we were allow to be at the 2024 free day for veterans at the zoo from 9 to 2. All veterans and active duty were given a free day at the zoo for themselves and family to honor those serving and have served in our military. It was attended by many from as for north as the lakes to the Ohio river. Weather was warm and sunny. Many of the attendees wanted to take photos of the goofy old guys in HOT wool uniforms and wanted to know more about the SAR and the various activities we do. Commander Bob Hill brought a number of flyer promoting Liberty Camp in Logan Ohio and by end of day they were all gone. There were many representatives from Veterans Administration offering a lot of the benefits that the VA provides to the numerous vets that were there.
After last years success at the 4th of the 4th of July event we were asked to be the Color Guard unit for the 2024 parades both the 1st at 7:00 pm and the 4th at 11:00 AM. Had many show up from the Camp Charlotte Color Guard unit to take part.
June 15th we had the honor to present a grave marking ceremony to five Patriots at the Chillicothe Grandview Cemetery. Many were in attendance with the Authur St. Clair Chapter hosting. Weather was pretty nice though once the sun really started to shine it got toasty.
So this morning 8 June 2024 we had a grave marking ceremony again in London Ohio. This was well attended giving so short of notice. We honored Constable Samuel Gilliland, Sr. who helped keep peace in the middle of chaos. Weather was perfect light sun and small breeze kept things comfortable. Rev. Dr. Joan C. Martin is an ancestor of Mr Gilliland and introduced the Patriot’s descendants and presented the Dedication of DAR Grave Marker.
This years parade was a little smaller then prior years but we had a very nice parade the weather was cool and rains moved out and it became nice and breezy which made it comfortable wearing wool and linen clothing.
Saturday we honored a soldier who was killed in WW2 on a bombing run in Romania. His remains were identified last year and today he is brought home to rest in peace in Kirkwood Cemetery in London Ohio. He was a part of the 415th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th United States Air Force. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. James H. Marrah, 22, of London, Ohio, killed during World War II was accounted for August 3, 2023. In the summer of 1943, Marrah served with the 415th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force. On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator aircraft on which Marrah was serving as a co-pilot, crashed as a result of enemy antiaircraft fire during Operation TIDAL WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania. His remains were not identified following the war. The remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania. Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel, disinterred all American remains from the Bolovan Cemetery for identification. The AGRC was unable to identify more than 80 unknowns from Bolovan Cemetery, and those remains were permanently interred at Ar-dennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, both in Belgium. In 2017, DPAA began exhuming unknowns believed to be associated with unaccounted-for airmen from Operation TIDAL WAVE losses. These remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory for examination and identification. To identify Marrah’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis and autoso-mal DNA (auSTR). Marrah’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Florence American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Impruneta, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for. Operation Tidal Wave Operation Tidal Wave was an air attack by bombers of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) based in Libya on nine oil refineries around Ploiesti, Romania on 1 August 1943, during World War II. It was a strategic bombing mission and part of the “oil campaign” to deny petroleum-based fuel to the Axis powers. The mission resulted in “no curtailment of overall product output”. This operation was one of the costliest for the USAAF in the European Theater, with 53 aircraft and 500 aircrewmen lost. It was proportionally the most costly major Allied air raid of the war, and its date was later referred to as “Black Sunday”. Five Medals of Honor and 56 Distinguished Service Crosses along with numerous other awards went to Operation Tidal Wave crew members. A 1999 research report prepared for the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama concluded that the bombing campaign in Ploiesti was “one of the bloodiest and most heroic missions of all time”. One of the downed American planes crashed into a female prison in Ploiesti, resulting in about half of the civilian casualties from the total of 101 killed and 238 injured.
Thursday was a busy day in Marietta. The ceremony had very nice weather honoring those that started the path west and up the Ohio. The story of Rufus Putnam was a delight to list to. The area was quite nice and it is interesting they call it Mound Cemetery.
Camp Charlotte Chapter #41-Sons of the American Revolution 