[NCAH] Fwd: A Civil War Soldier Buried Under the Wrong Name

[Chas Reed]

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "David K. Schrack" <davidkschrack at gmail.com>
> Date: May 17, 2015 at 11:10:11 PM EDT
> To: martin at campbell.edu, editor at nchistorians.org, webmaster at nchistorians.org
> Subject: A Civil War Soldier Buried Under the Wrong Name
> 
> Hello!
> 
> My name is David K. Schrack and I have an issue at hand which I believe all of you will find especially important. The gist of it is this: there is a Civil War soldier buried in New Bern with the wrong name on his grave and the US government refuses to fix it. Worse, it's possible he isn't the only one with this problem -- in fact, many of your own ancestors might have a similar issue.
> 
> I have a distant relative also named David Schrack who fought as a Private in the 51st Regiment Pennsylvania Infantry during the Civil War and died over a year into his service, only to have the wrong name carved on his headstone. According to muster rolls, several of David's company leaders (namely Corporal William Bolton and Captain Thomas Parker), and pension records, Private Schrack died of disease in Beaufort, North Carolina, on July 12, 1862. He is currently buried in New Bern National Cemetery (an hour drive away from Beaufort) and his grave incorrectly lists the name 'Daniel Schrack'. I know that this is incorrect and that it is, in fact, Private David Schrack buried there because there was only one Daniel Schrack in the entire war and he enlisted two months after David died, and did not fight in North Carolina where David fought and is buried.
> 
> The US government refuses to help and will not fix his grave because of a regulation which states that all graves 50 years or older are considered historic and cannot be changed in any way. Their fear is that there are so many wrong graves or interment records that fixing one grave would create a costly and time consuming domino effect in which many people would come forward to request changes and thus expose our national cemetery system for its disorganized and misinformed record-keeping. But to me, this claim of historic value is meaningless. There is no historic value behind Private Schrack's grave and all graves that are wrong because history is dependent upon facts and accurate information. If there are no facts, and no accurate information, there is no history. The only thing historical about Private Schrack's grave is the fact that it is possibly 150 years old. Additionally, the fact that there was no Daniel Schrack in the entire war means that there is no history behind the name on his headstone. I'm of the opinion that all incorrect graves and interment records must be fixed because our veterans do not sacrifice themselves in the line of duty just so they can be forgotten because of a misprint on their headstone. It does not matter the cost, time, or reputation damage, because it is the honorable and respectful thing to do to both Private Schrack and all veterans.
> 
> After unsuccessfully struggling to convince New Bern National Cemetery and the US Department of Veteran's Affairs to replace Private Schrack's grave, I've realized two major things: one, that I face an enormously uphill battle, and two, that Private Schrack is not alone. It is highly likely that many of you have a Civil War relative or ancestor buried with an error on their grave or interment records, and we need to get them fixed.
> 
> I am asking that you help out in whatever way you can, because this is not an issue which applies just to me -- it probably applies to almost all of you and almost all of your members. Your Civil War ancestors, and my Civil War ancestors, need to be remembered for who they were and what they fought for. In essence, we are faced with the potential loss of the one thing which makes the Civil War so important on a personal level: our ancestors who fought (and sometimes died) during the war. They did not fight to be misremembered.
> 
> All regards,
> 
> David Keller Schrack
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> twitter.com/July121862