Veterans Day in Manitowoc was a joyous time for many reasons, even in places you may not expect.
The Manitowoc County Civil War Roundtable gathered at Evergreen Cemetery to unveil ten brand new gravestones for Civil War veterans whose previous markers were damaged or illegible.
This was the continuation of a six-year dedication to the Civil War grave markers in Evergreen Cemetery, as volunteers began scrubbing headstones in 2020.
The new granite grave markers were made by Hoffman Monuments, whose owner, Preston Preston, had the honor of unveiling one of them.
“It made me feel pretty special. These guys deserve it,” he told SeehaferNews.com. “The 30 seconds that we can give them now is nothing compared to what they did for us in our country.”
He called working on the project “nothing but a pleasure for us.”
Preston also noted, “It’s about an eight-month, nine-month process…The bottom line is the help the family members so they can read their stones again and honor those that have served.”
Preston, who only recently took over as owner at Hoffman Monuments, said he was honored to continue this new tradition into its second year, as last year, the company made eleven new headstones and replaced the four Grand Army of the Republic corner markers.
“Hopefully, we started over next year,” Preston said with a smile. “Depending on what he can do with the roundtable and money to order we discount them quite a bit for them so that the roundtable can afford or families can afford them.
The “he” Preston was referring to is Dan Reinke, who began this whole project in the midst of COVID after learning that there are 250+ Civil War veterans buried at Evergreen.
He went out to see their final resting places, saw the state of their markers, and decided he had to do something.
Six years later, all of the headstones have been scrubbed, and now these heroes are getting the honor of having brand-new markers so their sacrifice will be known forever.
