Talk:J. R. Kealoha/Archive 1

Cole 2014
VA Grave Markers Update 06 ►  No Living Relative, No Marker Nanette Napoleon has identified about 48 Native Hawaiians who served in the Civil War - a number that's remarkable given that the American war was fought a world away. The expert on historic graveyards knows of the gravesite in Hawaii of just one: Pvt. J.R. Kealoha, a Union soldier in the 41st Regiment, U.S. Colored Troops. Kealoha's grave, for whatever reason, is completely unmarked at historic Oahu Cemetery, and Napoleon and some others would like to fix that. "We have in Honolulu a U.S. veteran and Hawaiian warrior that survived nearly nine months of trench warfare and then witnessed the end of the war in Virginia," said Eric Mueller, who's done research on Kealoha. "We may never know what compelled him to travel to the U.S. and then into the U.S. Army, but we cannot dispute his bravery." Napoleon's group would like the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide an upright marble marker for Kealoha. The VA said no. On its website, the VA says that it "furnishes upon request, at no charge to the applicant, a government headstone or marker for the unmarked grave of any deceased eligible veteran in any cemetery around the world, regardless of their date of death." The reason for the denial in Kealoha's case? No relative can be found to approve it. Prior to the 2012 implementation of a 2009 VA policy change, that wasn't a problem. A third party with appropriate documentation could order a government headstone for the unmarked grave of a veteran. In 1879, Congress approved the furnishing of stones for unmarked veterans graves in private cemeteries. Christopher Erbe, a spokesman for the VA's National Cemetery Administration, said the policy change was made not due to the cost of providing the markers, but in deference to relatives of the dead. "In the past, there have been instances of well-meaning individuals and organizations taking action to mark graves or replace headstones without the knowledge of family members," Erbe said in an email. "Making arrangements for interment and memorialization of a loved one is a very personal matter, and although we recognize that many families are grateful for assistance, we also understand that many family members do not want involvement with decisions regarding VA benefits from non-next of kin, third-parties." But Jeff Richman, historian at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, N.Y., testified before a congressional committee on Oct. 30 that such disputes over the old burials rarely, if ever, occur. Green-Wood, which installed 1,300 Civil War markers prior to the new policy, had no complaints from descendants, he said. The United States is seven generations removed from the Civil War, Richman noted, and it takes a tremendous amount of work to locate next of kin to authorize a VA marker for an old, unmarked grave. The VA admitted last year that the new rules are "over-restrictive." Erbe said the National Cemetery Administration is reviewing the regulation. In the meantime, that leaves Kealoha's grave, dug in 1877, unmarked and his service unaccounted for. His unmarked grave - along with those of 18 other individuals - is beneath a patch of grass just off the walled, gated and raised-ground burial plot of industrialist James Campbell and his family. The four Hawaii members of the "Private J.R. Kealoha VA Marker initiative" think it's important for the government to recognize his service - with a marker. "Kealoha represents many Hawaiian men and men from Hawaii who served in the Civil War who knew what they were getting into, who took a risk, and we all are the beneficiaries of that work and risk that they took," said Anita Manning, one of those members. "We owe it to them to recognize that service." Manning, Napoleon, Mueller and Justin Vance, president of the Hawaii Civil War Roundtable, comprise the group. Kealoha is believed to have participated in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign, which ended in March 1865. A Jan. 22, 1865, letter from Col. Samuel Chapman Armstrong, who was born on Maui, notes a conversation with Kealoha, his "orderly," holding his horse, before the Richmond fighting. "I asked him where he was from," Armstrong wrote. "He said he was from Hawaii! He proved to be a full-blooded kanaka, by the name of Kealoha, who came from the Islands last year." He also noted meeting another man named Kaiwi from Hawaii. "I enjoyed seeing them very much, and we had a good jabber in kanaka," the colonel said. Marked graves for Civil War veterans who came to Hawaii after the war, both Union and Confederate, can be found at Oahu Cemetery. Some Caucasians who served were born or raised in Hawaii. But Kealoha's gravesite is the only one for a Native Hawaiian with a known location in the state, Napoleon said. Another Native Hawaiian, a sailor named Bush, is believed to be buried on Kauai, "but even the family can't find him," Manning said. Napoleon said many of the Hawaiians in the Union Army and Navy were whalers on ships that were converted to military vessels when the war broke out. Part of the problem in identifying Civil War veterans is pseudonyms were often used during the war, another name was used back in Hawaii, and the records are hard to match. The committee pushing for a VA marker for Kealoha said it will ask for help from Hawaii's congressional delegation. Plan B would be to purchase a private marker. But both Napoleon and Manning would like the government to recognize Kealoha's service. "To us, the government, by law, owes him this recognition," Napoleon said. [Source: The Honolulu Star-Advertiser | William Cole | 23 Feb 2014 ++]

Unused sources

 * http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/national-govt-politics/va-to-allow-more-gravesite-memorials/nrWSw/
 * http://www.midweek.com/makakilo-professor-earns-history-educator-award/
 * Honor Life Memorials
 * PENNSYLVANIA
 * http://kahunateachings.com/event-blessings/hawaiian-hero-honored/
 * http://historyeducationhawaii.blogspot.com/2014/06/2014-conference-sessions-native.html
 * http://www.hpu.edu/HPUNews/2015/04/history-educator.html
 * http://usctchronicle.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-mystery-of-jr-kealoha-soldier-of.html

2013 SOURCES

2014 SOURCES


 * The Civil War Round Table of Hawaii and other took part in the dedication ceremony for the headstone of Kealoha, at Oahu Cemetery on October 25, 2014.
 * The Civil War Round Table of Hawaii and other took part in the dedication ceremony for the headstone of Kealoha, at Oahu Cemetery on October 25, 2014.
 * The Civil War Round Table of Hawaii and other took part in the dedication ceremony for the headstone of Kealoha, at Oahu Cemetery on October 25, 2014.


 * http://kahunateachings.com/event-blessings/hawaiian-hero-honored/
 * http://kahunateachings.com/event-blessings/hawaiian-hero-honored/
 * http://kahunateachings.com/event-blessings/hawaiian-hero-honored/


 * http://hpr2.org/post/pvt-kealoha-tombstone-wait-until-dark-solar-industry-update-banana-workshop#stream/0
 * http://historyeducationhawaii.blogspot.com/2014/06/2014-conference-sessions-native.html

2015 SOURCES
 * http://www.hpu.edu/HPUNews/2015/04/history-educator.html
 * http://usctchronicle.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-mystery-of-jr-kealoha-soldier-of.html
 * http://usctchronicle.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-mystery-of-jr-kealoha-soldier-of.html
 * http://usctchronicle.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-mystery-of-jr-kealoha-soldier-of.html

41st USCT
THE troops composing this regiment were from different sections of the State, and rendezvoused at Camp William Penn, where a regimental organization was effected in the fall of 1864, with the following field officers: Llewellyn F. Haskell, Colonel; Lewis L. Weld, Lieutenant Colonel; Alpheus H. Cheney, Major. On the 13th of October, six companies, all that were at that time full, were ordered to join the Army of the James, and proceeded to Deep Bottom, where, for a few days, they performed guard duty, and then moved up to the front in rear of Fort Burnham. On the 27th, they took part in a reconnoissance in force on the right of the Army of the James, in the vicinity of the Darbytown Eoad, and had one, a Sergeant, wounded. This movement was undertaken as a diversion in favor of Hancock, who was moving upon the Boydton Plank Eoad, on the extreme left of the Army of the Potomac. Thecommand soon after wenfc into camp on Chapin's Farm, where it was engagedin drill and picket duty, and where it was joined by the remaining companies. On the 1st of January, 1865, the regiment moved to the vicinity of Fort Durham, exchanging camps with the One Hundred and Seventeenth Colored, where it continued in drill and picket duty. On the 27th of March, in connection with the Twenty-fourth Corps, under command of General Ord, to the Second Division of which it now belonged, it move! to join the Army of the Potomac, arriving at Hatcher's Run on the 29th. It was immediately ordered upon the front, where it threw up breastworks and skirmished with the enemy. On the 2d of April, it was engaged before Petersburg, losing one killed and eight wounded, and at evening moved in pursuit of the rebel army, following the line of the South Side Railroad. The pursuit was pushed with little interruption until the regiment reached Appomattox Court House, where, on the 9th, while upon the skirmish line, Captain John W. Falconer was mortally wounded, dying on the 23d. After the surrender, which occurred on the same day, the regiment encamped in the neighborhood of Appomattox, where it remained until the 11th, and then moved back to Petersburg. On the 25th of May, it embarked at City Point, for Texas, arriving at the Island of Brazos de Santiago, early in June. After remaining here a few days, it proceeded to Edinburg, where it was employed in guard and provost duty. On the 30th of September it was consolidated into a battalion of four companies. These were mustered out of service at Brownsville, on the 10th of November, and returning to Philadelphia, were paid and disbanded on the 14th of December. As only the muster-out rolls of these companies were returned to the Adjutant General's office, the men whose names are borne upon them are, alone, accounted for. FIELD AND STAFF OFFICERS [blocks in formation] [blocks in formation] George W. Keys.. John Connor

Henry M. Hall. Stacy Hemenway... Anselm Achim Win. P. Lambert... Henry Johnson

Jacob V. Saddler ... Albert Smith Fred. M. DeWitt.... George Richards..., Nathan Olmstead... Claries Steward.... Charles H. Arnold. Moses Brvant

Major.. Adj.

Cole's article


Nanette Napoleon has identified about 48 Native Hawaiians who served in the Civil War - a number that's remarkable given that the American war was fought a world away. The expert on historic graveyards knows of the gravesite in Hawaii of just one: Pvt. J.R. Kealoha, a Union soldier in the 41st Regiment, U.S. Colored Troops. Kealoha's grave, for whatever reason, is completely unmarked at historic Oahu Cemetery, and Napoleon and some others would like to fix that. "We have in Honolulu a U.S. veteran and Hawaiian warrior that survived nearly nine months of trench warfare and then witnessed the end of the war in Virginia," said Eric Mueller, who's done research on Kealoha. "We may never know what compelled him to travel to the U.S. and then into the U.S. Army, but we cannot dispute his bravery." Napoleon's group would like the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide an upright marble marker for Kealoha. The VA said no. On its website, the VA says that it "furnishes upon request, at no charge to the applicant, a government headstone or marker for the unmarked grave of any deceased eligible veteran in any cemetery around the world, regardless of their date of death." The reason for the denial in Kealoha's case? No relative can be found to approve it. Prior to the 2012 implementation of a 2009 VA policy change, that wasn't a problem. A third party with appropriate documentation could order a government headstone for the unmarked grave of a veteran. In 1879, Congress approved the furnishing of stones for unmarked veterans graves in private cemeteries. Christopher Erbe, a spokesman for the VA's National Cemetery Administration, said the policy change was made not due to the cost of providing the markers, but in deference to relatives of the dead. "In the past, there have been instances of well- meaning individuals and organizations taking action to mark graves or replace headstones without the knowledge of family members," Erbe said in an email. "Making arrangements for interment and memorialization of a loved one is a very personal matter, and although we recognize that many families are grateful for assistance, we also understand that many family members do not want involvement with decisions regarding VA benefits from non-next of kin, third-parties." But Jeff Richman, historian at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, N.Y., testified before a congressional committee on Oct. 30 that such disputes over the old burials rarely, if ever, occur. Green-Wood, which installed 1,300 Civil War markers prior to the new policy, had no complaints from descendants, he said. The United States is seven generations removed from the Civil War, Richman noted, and it takes a tremendous amount of work to locate next of kin to authorize a VA marker for an old, unmarked grave. The VA admitted last year that the new rules are "over-restrictive." Erbe said the National Cemetery Administration is reviewing the regulation. In the meantime, that leaves Kealoha's grave, dug in 1877, unmarked and his service unaccounted for. His unmarked grave - along with those of 18 other individuals - is beneath a patch of grass just off the walled, gated and raised-ground burial plot of industrialist James Campbell and his family. The four Hawaii members of the "Private J.R. Kealoha VA Marker initiative" think it's important for the government to recognize his service - with a marker. "Kealoha represents many Hawaiian men and men from Hawaii who served in the Civil War who knew what they were getting into, who took a risk, and we all are the beneficiaries of that work and risk that they took," said Anita Manning, one of those members. "We owe it to them to recognize that service." Manning, Napoleon, Mueller and Justin Vance, president of the Hawaii Civil War Roundtable, comprise the group. Kealoha is believed to have participated in the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign, which ended in March 1865. A Jan. 22, 1865, letter from Col. Samuel Chapman Armstrong, who was born on Maui, notes a conversation with Kealoha, his "orderly," holding his horse, before the Richmond fighting. "I asked him where he was from," Armstrong wrote. "He said he was from Hawaii! He proved to be a full-blooded kanaka, by the name of Kealoha, who came from the Islands last year." He also noted meeting another man named Kaiwi from Hawaii. "I enjoyed seeing them very much, and we had a good jabber in kanaka," the colonel said. Marked graves for Civil War veterans who came to Hawaii after the war, both Union and Confederate, can be found at Oahu Cemetery. Some Caucasians who served were born or raised in Hawaii. But Kealoha's gravesite is the only one for a Native Hawaiian with a known location in the state, Napoleon said. Another Native Hawaiian, a sailor named Bush, is believed to be buried on Kauai, "but even the family can't find him," Manning said. Napoleon said many of the Hawaiians in the Union Army and Navy were whalers on ships that were converted to military vessels when the war broke out. Part of the problem in identifying Civil War veterans is pseudonyms were often used during the war, another name was used back in Hawaii, and the records are hard to match. The committee pushing for a VA marker for Kealoha said it will ask for help from Hawaii's congressional delegation. Plan B would be to purchase a private marker. But both Napoleon and Manning would like the government to recognize Kealoha's service. "To us, the government, by law, owes him this recognition," Napoleon said. [Source: The Honolulu Star-Advertiser | William Cole | 23 Feb 2014 ++]

Armstrong's Other Quotation
They were patriotic during the war; a thousand of them could easily have been enlisted for the Union army without bounties, had not the law forbidden their leaving the Islands. I found several of them among the Negro regiments. During the bombardment of Fort Harrison, north of the James River, while commanding a supporting brigade, I heard my Hawaiian name, Kamuela, called from a colorguard, and looking down saw a grinning Kanaka, a corporal, who had recognized me—as cool as a cucumber. Another turned up as a headquarter orderly—holding my horse. I read, in an account of the naval land attack on Fort Fisher, that among the first seamen to volunteer for the deadly work were two Hawaiian sailors. They were all good soldiers; like the Negro, they are noble under leadership, often wonderful in emergencies. Some of the boys who grabbed sugar from the missionary barrel in the "Depository" went into the war, too, and how the good old native women prayed for our deliverance from danger! There were rare types of simple piety and faith among them. *http://books.google.com/books?id=Pz8YAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA84
 * http://books.google.com/books?id=o9sTAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA84

During the war, Samuel C. Armstrong, the son of an American missionary in Maui who also enlisted, met two Native Hawaiians named Kealoha and Kaiwi, who were privates in the 41st Regiment Infantry U.S. Colored Troops and 28th Regiment United States Colored Troops, respectively.

Legacy
In August 26, 2010, on the anniversary of the signing of the Hawaiian Neutrality Proclamation, a bronze memorial plaque was erected at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu recognizing the "Hawaiʻi Sons of the Civil War," the more than one hundred documented Hawaiians, who served during the American Civil War for both the Union and the Confederacy. Pitman's great grandniece Diane Kinoʻole o Liliha Pitman Spieler attended the ceremony. Pitman Spieler stated, "I'm very proud of a young man of his age — he was quite young — who served in the Civil War for his family." In 2014, Maui based author Wayne Moniz wrote a fictionalized story based on the lives and services of Hawaiian soldiers during the Civil War in his book Pukoko: A Hawaiian in the American Civil War. In 2013, Todd Ocvirk, Nanette Napoleon, Justin Vance, and others began the process of creating a historical documentary about the individual experiences and stories of Hawaii-born soldiers and sailors of the American Civil War including Kealoha ]Henry Hoʻolulu Pitman], [[Samuel C. Armstrong, Nathaniel Bright Emerson, James Wood Bush, and many other unnamed combatants of both the Union and the Confederacy.