Rockford, Ohio

Honoring Our Public Servants ~ Coasties:  Maybe you don't think of members of the U.S. Coast Guard as public servants, but you should. They do serve the public. From his memorial, it looks like a job he dreamed about his entire life, and then got to experience it: short but fulfilling life. Riverside Cemetery. [2018]

Mars Hill, North Carolina

Mercator's Birthday ~ March 5: The eagle, globe, and anchor constitute the emblem of the US Marine Corps. Mercator's know-how would have come in handy here. This version of the Western Hemisphere needs some high fidelity. Maps need to be semper fidelis to the globe they represent, not sloppy approximations. Mars Hill Cemetery. [2012]

Richmond, Massachusetts

Mercator's Birthday ~ March 5:  Why would this couple choose a world map for their headstone? Well before the Mercator Projection, we learned that maps could be manipulated to tell stories and serve our own interests. How does a Eurocentric map projection serve the interests of this couple? Richmond Center Cemetery. [2019]

Thomasville, North Carolina

Instead of a Dash – A Cross:  What would normally be a dash between dates is the United Methodist Church's cross and flame. It looks like he let two things fill his life: first, the military; second, the church. Five lines total: three are devoted to military service. Fair Grove UMC Cemetery. [2013]

Arlington, Virginia

Focus on Arlington National Cemetery:  The Tomb of the Unknown Solider is under constant vigilance in honor of all the men and women whose remains were never identified. The ceremony going on here is the changing of the guard. When the cemetery is open, it takes place every half hour in summer and every hour in winter. The sentries are drawn from the U.S. Army. Serving as an Honor Guard is one of the highest honors in military service. [2019]

San Diego, California

Communities of Difference Share a Final Resting Place: Here lies buried not a Japanese American, but a citizen of Japan. He was a seaman on board a Japanese ship that called in San Diego. Overboard he fell, in 1887, as the ship departed for Mexico. His body was found off the coast of California and his remains were interred in Mount Hope Cemetery. Added to his memorial is a slab that bears a Japanese inscription, adding yet one more language and alphabet to our list: Armenian, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian, English, and, now, Japanese. Can anyone offer a translation? Mount Hope Cemetery. [2020]

Austin, Minnesota

Burial or Cremation?  If you are going to be buried, one possibility is to be buried underground. A memorial marker is not required, but if you choose to mark the interment, the lawn-cemetery option is a popular one. The marker is flush with the ground, so that riding mowers can do their job efficiently. Grandview Cemetery. [2019]

Glen Ellyn, Illinois

The First Shall be Last, and The Last First: The seal tells us that he was in the Air Force; the dates on the seal tell us he probably fought in the Korean War. Rank: Major? Only a surmise based on his family name which ends with meier, Germanic, from a root that gives us both major and mayor. Now, put that idea together with the first syllable of his family name. Forest Hill Cemetery. [2019]

Odebolt, Iowa

Picture-Perfect Farmsteads:  His was a prosperous farmstead. You can tell by the number of barns and all the cribs and silos. That means he must have grown something of great value: Cracker Jacks! Well, not exactly, but here was grown most of the popcorn used to make it. Odebolt was the popcorn capital of America. The fields were in Iowa; the factories were in Chicago, and the railroad linked the two. Odebolt Cemetery. [2019]

Woonsocket, Rhode Island

Defined by Our Duds:  The doughboys were the GIs of World War I. (No, not that kind of doughboy.) As soldiers, they were decked out in military duds appropriate for the age. Here's one in action. He seems to have died in his thirties, shortly after he served on the battlefield. He may have been born in Quebec or shortly after his parents arrived to work in the mills of Woonsocket. Immigrants they were, and proud to send their precious blood into battle to fight for the freedoms they loved in the country they came to call home. Precious Blood Cemetery. [2019]

Elkridge, Maryland

Give Me That Old-Time Technology: The sad thing is that computers used by our federal employees probably still look like this. Don't believe it? Just ask anyone who works for the government. When you think of infrastructure, think computer systems, not just roads and bridges. Meadowgrove Cemetery. [2018]

Palmer, Massachusetts

Identity Headwear ~ Soldiers:  The slouch hat has been associated with military forces around the world for centuries.It was also a symbol that veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic adopted to call attention to their service and valor. This veteran would have been in his early 20s when he fought in the Civil War. Oak Knoll Cemetery. [2013]

Charleston, Illinois

Log Cabins Forever:  "Harry and Nan are sleeping side by side and their spirits are roaming with the blessed." He would have been in his 20s when he fought for the G.A.R. She would have been at home with her parents, probably (like him) on the Illinois prairie. This log cabin may be where their life together started. She was clearly devoted to her husband and to perpetuating the memory of  the "Northern" cause. How do we know? She was a member of the Women's Relief Corps. Mound Cemetery. [2017]

Odessa, Delaware

Voices from the Land of the Living ~ Third Person Singular Subjective Case:  "If she lives in your heart, she will never die." Drawyers Cemetery. [2018]

Mt. Oreb, Ohio

Surname Initials as Identifying Logos ~ H:  The letter H is the 8th most frequently used letter in the English language. Here, it is framed by a circle, which we might conceptualize as a halo. He was certainly a Christian (see the cross?) and his family name may have come down to us from "holy man." Mt. Oreb Cemetery. [2016]

Augusta, Georgia

Fantastical Birds and Where to Find Them: Is that a bird house hoping to attract a new resident? Or, a waystation at heaven's gate hoping to serve a wayward soul? Westover Memorial Park. [2015]

Frederick, Maryland

The Confederate Battle Flag Lives On:  In the Confederate section of Frederick's famous rural cemetery, the battle flag seems an appropriate honor for those who died in the Battle of Antietam or as a result of wounds sustained there. These markers honor both known and unknown soldiers. The original headstones have been supplemented by new ones: only the date of death is recorded. All of these died in September 1862. Mt. Olivet Cemetery. [2010]

Hampton,Virginia

The Confederate Battle Flag Lives On:  On the left is what everyone thinks is the official flag of the Confederate States of America. On the right is the flag that actually was the official flag of the Confederacy, or at least the earliest one of them. It was known as the "stars and bars" and was judged to be too much like the "stars and stripes" for easy differentiation when used in battle. The stone says "Our Confederate Dead," but it could as easily say "Confederate States of America," which was born in 1861 and died in 1865. Oakland Cemetery. [2012]

Valle Crucis, North Carolina

The Holy Estate of Matrimony:  They were married at the Naval Memorial Chapel in Norfolk, Virginia, and are eternally proud of it. Lots of tombstones announce the date of marriage, but few announce the place of marriage. If the pastor here at Holy Cross Episcopal Church ever forgets his Bible, all he has to do is head outside to the graveyard. Eight Bible verses (presumably his and her favorites) are there on this headstone and ready to be quoted from the pulpit. [2012]

Absecon, New Jersey

New Jersey's Lighthouses:  Since these two are apparently among the pre-dead (i.e., no date of death), they probably selected the design of their headstone themselves. Did they know their logogram stretched all the way back to ancient Egypt's obelisks and the Pharos at Alexandria? Did they know those birds stretched all the way back to the age of dinosaurs? Absecon Presbyterian Church. [2016]