About Private Samuel Helms-- Part 2

According to Bobbie Reno, the court-martial was illegal.  Helms should have been punished for going AWOL, not executed for desertion.

Modern scientific research tools have been deployed to locate Helms' possible burial spot.  Ground penetrating radar swept the elementary school's athletic field last year and identified several possible locations for graves.  Bobbie Reno is attempting to track down Helms' descendants for possible DNA matches.

In order to verify the possible locations, a subsurface investigation is needed and it is the Army policy not to disturb burials of the fallen when possible.

However, reno has noted that soldiers remains have been disturbed in other parts of New York.

On June 14 there will be a ceremony at the state's Lake George Battlefield Park for the reinterment of remains of Continental soldiers who died during the American Revolution.  These remains were uncovered during a construction project in 2019. 

They were believed to have been buried in a cemetery for soldiers who did at a nearby hospital.  The ceremony is sponsored by the State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Courtland Street Reinterment Project.

--Brock-Perry

101-Year-Old Pearl Harbor Survivors on the USS Oklahoma Returns for the 80th

This is continued from my Saw the Elephant, Running the Blockade and Cooter's History Thing blogs.  I am writing about Pearl Harbor today in most of my blogs as it is the 80th anniversary of the attack.

In 2015, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) exhumed 388 sets of remains from the "Unknown Oklahoma" graves in the National Cemetery of the Pacific.  Using DNA and dental records, they were able to identify 361 of them.

David Russell's brother-in-law was among them.  Fireman 1st Class Walter "Boone"  Rogers was in the Oklahoma's fireroom when the torpedoes hit.  That would be deep in the ship's bowels. His remains were identified in 2017.  He has since been buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

David Russell  remained in the Navy until retiring in 1960.  He worked at Air Force bases for the next two decades before retiring for good in 1980.

His wife Violet passed away 22 years ago and David now lives alone in Albany, Oregon. He drives himself to the local grocery store and the local American Legion in a black Ford Explorer while listening to polka at top volume.

Titus Greer Simons' Jacket-- Part 1

From the May 17th Hamilton (Canada) Spectator "War of 1812: Blood ties DNA testing aims to link blood on 200-year-old jacket to modern-day descendant" by Mark McNeil.

Titus Greer Simons took three musket shots in his body at the July 25, 1814, Battle of Lundy's Lane and most of the right side of his coat was soaked with blood.  The tightly fitting jacket likely contained his injuries as he survived.

The red Canadian militia coat is on permanent display at the Hamilton Military Museum and will have DNA analysis run on it to see if a modern-day descendant can be found.  It is believed that this is the first time War of 1812 biological material has been used for DNA analysis.

The museum has an exhibit called Blood Ties which connects the War of 1812 to today.

Martha Hemphill is Simons' 3rd great granddaughter and will take part in the testing.

His 1812 militia jacket is extremely rare.

Blood On the Coat.  --Brock-Perry