LAKEPORT >> “And now the time has come to honor a valiant soldier, a brave and resourceful man who helped carve civilization out of the wilderness and leave a legacy not only to his descendants, but to all of Lake County, California,” Herman Woodrow Hughes, retired US Navy Captian, told those gathered at Hartley Cemetery on Saturday.
Early that morning, a small group of men and women came together to honor William Vickroy, a veteran of the Civil War, in a grave re-dedication ceremony. Vickroy”s grave was never marked, and as such, the Veterans Association provided him with a tombstone.
Hughes gave a memorial speech honoring the veteran and his service to the country. A local group referred to as Patriot Guard Riders, motorcyclists who attend funerals and memorials of veterans, formed two lines. Each Patriot Guard carried an American Flag.
“None of us here today knew William Vickroy personally. None of us has any direct memory of William Vickroy,” Hughes said. “However, some of his descendants live in Lake County.”
In attendance were all four of Vickroy”s great-great grandchildren and one great-great-great grandchild.
On October 2, 1861 at 36 years of age, Vickroy enlisted in Company B, 4th Regiment, Minnesota Infantry and he went to fight on the side of the Union during the Civil War. Entering as a Sergeant, Vickroy made it up the ranks to 2nd Lieutenant before leaving his Company.
It was in the 1880s when Vickroy and his family moved to Lakeport, where he lived his life until his death in 1905.
Saturday”s memorial wasn”t the first re-dedication ceremony in the County. So far, five unmarked veteran”s graves have been located and given tombstones. The first unmarked grave was found in Middletown, there are two left to mark in Lakeport and eight to 10 unmarked graves remain in Lower Lake.
The man behind this operation is Darrell Biddle, the Post Historian for the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Lake County. For about three years Biddle has been searching for unmarked graves, so that veterans of all wars can be properly honored. The task can be difficult, as he often doesn”t know where graves are located.
Biddle works with the Cemetery Board to find the veteran”s graves. After physically scouring the cemeteries, he searches through the board”s records to connect names to grave sites. The graves then have to be verified with the Veterans Association. Once it”s confirmed that the burial site is that of someone who served in the military, the Veterans Association provides a tombstone for the grave.
Fully committed to honoring the men and women who have served, Biddle is also making a pictorial history of all of the veterans in Lake County. He”s photographing their graves and working up a genealogy to document the unknown history of the county. This project is for both the local historical society and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Hughes stressed two important reasons for honoring the county”s veterans. “First, for the future of our military we need to remember those who have served in the past,” he said. “And second, is the realization that because of the great sacrifices made by so many men and women who served in the armed forces in the past, we are able to live in a time and place where freedom is taken for granted.”
After Hughes” speech, a funeral honors firing squad and civil war reenactors performed the traditional military salute to a fallen comrade which consists of a three-volley rifle salute followed by the playing of the Taps. The honor squad fired exact replicas of weapons that were used in the Civil War.
During the playing of Taps, the crowd was asked to stand and place their hands over their hearts. Two bugle players performed the mournful song, written during the Civil War, originally as a bedtime call. One stood with the honor squad while another was off in the distance, echoing the first player. These are naturally called echo Taps, because of latter bugle player, echoing the first.
Following the performans was the folding of an American flag. This was carried out by two members of the military, an Army Captain and an enlisted soldier, who travel to various funerals and memorial services to perform this duty for fallen veterans.
This traditional flag folding concluded the re-dedication of Vickroy”s grave. He will be remembered by much of the Lake County community.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019
