Blood relatives of Civil War veterans honors military families
A regional veterans’ organization whose descendants fought in the Civil War is looking for families of area service men and women who are on active duty in the military. The group, which is called “Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War,” is distributing red, white, and blue banners for families to display in the windows of their homes. Bruce Beckeney of Presque Isle, who served in the Navy during the Vietnam War, said the banners are a way to recognize the sacrifices of those people back at home.
“It’s a point of pride for the parents to display the banners,” said Beckeney. The families of Scott and Mindy Prell of Hawks, who are both in the Navy, as well as the parents of David Quaine (Army) of Rogers City, recently received banners from this veterans’ group. The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) is a patriotic society whose members are direct descendants, either through paternal or maternal lines of soldiers, sailors, or marines, who served honorably or were honorably discharged from the service during the war from 1861-1865.
“WE ARE the descendants of the men who fought for the Union,” said Beckeney, who had three relatives fight for the Union. They include Charles Hintz, Ludwig Hintz, and Frederick Hintz. Frederick Hintz died from wounds in the Battle of Chickamunga, Georgia. Beckeney is doing his part to re-establish the organization in Alpena County, which is known as Lockwood Camp 139.
It was established about 120 years ago, Beckeney said. “Our camp just got off the ground again, because all of the original sons had died out back in the late 1940s, so we are just the ancestors picking up the torch again,” said Beckeney. Lockwood Camp looked at honoring families of Alpena County with banners, but Beckeney wanted the group to expand that to neighboring counties, including Presque Isle County. “This goes back to World War I,” said Beckeney. “That’s when they started to display these banners, usually in the front windows of home
IN WORLD WAR II, it was a common practice for people to display the banners. “I lived during the Vietnam era and I don’t really recall seeing too many of those at that time,” said Beckeney. “It really got picked up again with the Iraq War.” Getting the information about the local military families has been the biggest challenge. “There is a lot of local history that people have overlooked that we are trying to dust off and pull out,” said Beckeney.
SUVCW plans to gather the information as part of future projects. “Some of our projects are to get some monuments erected to honor these guys,” said Beckeney. “In our area there are no statues to them to speak of. This is what we are trying to raise funds for. We actually would like to see something erected on the courthouse lawn in Rogers City and also in Alpena.” Anyone who knows of someone who would qualify for a banner is encouraged to call Beckeney at 989-595-6483.