For over sixty years, Lloyd Williams Post 41 has been installing grave markers provided by the Veterans Administration on the graves of veterans buried in local cemeteries. The Post installs the markers for free. This is a small way for the members of Post 41 to pay their final respects to a deceased veteran. It is believed that Post 41 is the only veterans’ organization that currently provides this free service.
With the establishment of national cemeteries in 1862, standard markers and headstones were provided for each grave. Until 1920, only veterans who were buried in national cemeteries were eligible for a government-provided marker. After World War I, all eligible members of the armed forces and veterans interred in private cemeteries were eligible for a free government-provided grave marker. However, the family of the deceased veteran was and still is responsible for the installation of the marker or headstone.
In the early-1950s, with the deaths of many World War I veterans, Post 41 began ordering and installing the grave markers for free. The first marker was installed on May 14, 1952. In the Clarke County cemeteries that have been cataloged, over 1,500 military markers have been installed on the graves of veterans. Almost all of these were installed by American Legion Post 41 members. Since commercial monument companies currently charge about $500 to install one of the markers, Post 41 has conservatively saved veterans’ families almost three-quarters of a million dollars. In the past few years, we have averaged a10-15 marker installations each year.
Post 41 is committed to assisting families of veterans to obtain government-provided military markers and to install these markers at no charge to the families. Every veteran deserves a marked grave.
