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Friday, May 23, 2008

Northampton County Potter's Field Needs a Few Markers

Not far from the Gracedale complex, you can see Northampton County's very own potter's field. It's located at the top of a lonely hill along Levis Road, right next to a gigantic civil defense tower. It's a pretty, quiet place, but the county has been using it a final resting place for indigents and unknowns since 1937.

Two hundred people are buried there. Most of the graves are marked with a simple stone marker like the one you see in this picture. The five combat veterans buried here, including a WWII Army captain, get a flag.

It's nice.

But the most recent stone marker is dated 1998. Six persons have been interred since then, and their graves are decorated only by cheap plastic markers. Two of these appear to have been mangled by lawn mowers beyond recognition, and a name is completely worn off another.

Gracedale administrator Harold Russell, the person who gets the stone markers, tells me he simply hasn't had time and will try to devote more attention to this detail soon. I hope so. Civilized society, even pre-invasion Iraq, respects the dead. Every life, even a person with no family or money, is important. When we don't honor our dead, it's an indication we don't have much respect for the living, either.
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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 23, 2008 at 12:05 AM

    In 10 he hasn't had TIME! Russel is incompetent, good Lord, that is crazy. Get a new stone guy and a new director.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMay 23, 2008 at 12:41 AM

    Thank you - Anonymous

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMay 23, 2008 at 9:13 AM

    Without attacking, it sure looks like he's not doing his job...

    Thank you for bringing this to everyone's attention.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bernie O'HareMay 23, 2008 at 9:21 AM

    I'm trying hard NOT to attack the guy, and he seems like a very nice man. But facts are facts. Most of the people buried there have no one to look out for them, so few notice.

    ReplyDelete

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