PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A woman who led the effort to have the long-forgotten ashes of a Civil War veteran buried in Willamette National Cemetery is unhappy with the marker planned for him.
Union soldiers from the Civil War traditionally have upright headstones, with lettering inside a shield.
But the marker ordered for Peter Knapp is a granite slab with no shield.
Debbie Peevyhouse is a friend of the Knapp family who arranged to have the ashes buried in the national cemetery last week. She says the shield-less flat marker is insufficient.
The Portland cemetery is a rarity among national graveyards because it has no upright headstones. The National Cemetery Administration says upright headstones come with the shield for historical purposes. Flat markers like those in the Portland cemetery do not — no exceptions.
