Tekamah NE

Civil War / Spanish / WW I Memorial

Cemetery Rd

Tekamah, Burt County, Nebraska

"IN MEMORIUM

TO OUR COUNTRYS DEFENDERS

1861 - 1865

1898

1917 - 1918

Fraternity Charity Loyalty

W.R.C. No. 151."

"Andrew A. Crannell Memorial

LaFrenz Post

No 15

1928"

Tour Notes:

I was really pleased to find two monuments here when I expected just one. The second stands about 180 yards northeast of the first and offers a scenic view of the countryside north and east of the city. It is an American Legion effort sponsored by LaFrenz Post No. 15. That area is highlighted by a flag pole and veterans burial plot. TheLegion post is named for the first man of Tekamah to be killed in World War I, Cpl Julius LaFrenz while fighting with Co. K. 355th Inf. Regt. 89th Div. The 30 year old soldiers died September 13, 1918 during the drive against St. Mihiel Flirey.

According to the Burt County GenWeb site, 20 men of Burt died during World War I. One of them left a poem for all to contemplate when America calls out for her sons:

The Call of the Flag

By Perry Rogers

Like the dew that's softly falling,

Here I now a voice that's calling

:Calling to a man that has a heart,

To a man that lives for duty

:Willing to sacrifice, to do his part.

It's a call that's filled with pity.

Every man should stop and hear

,To protect the home, the mother'

The child, and all that's dear.

There's a feeling sort of fills you,

And it thrills you thro and thro

,As you gaze upon Old Glory:

On the red the white and blue.

To each it is his duty,

Why shirk you then your part

When a call that's more than human

Knocks at every loyal heart.

So when you hear it knocking,

And, you feel it's time to start

;Don't be an idle dreamer.-

Go ahead and do your part.

Rogers' style won't win any literary prizes, but it is easy to see that he was enthused about his patriotic desire to serve the nation. He is confused over why any American man would not stand to serve, or be willing to let another go in his place. He was just 23 years old when he died in France on August 26, 1918. He lies at rest in the Targette British Cemetery in Neuville-Saint-Vaast, at Nord-Pas-de_Calais. I think I would have easily understood this man. But my confusion comes not when others shirk their duty, but when they even fail to stand and render honors to the flag and the nation for which Rogers died.

07/11/2019

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Civil War / Spanish / WW I Memorial

State Title - Nebraska

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