HONORED AND NOT FORGOTTEN

POCAHONTAS -- John Walker may not have been properly honored as a U.S. veteran because he never fought on foreign soil. But his dedication and service to his country are well remembered.

Walker, a soldier in the American Revolutionary War, was honored at a special grave-marking ceremony Sunday afternoon. About 20 people attended the Veterans Day celebration at the Apple Creek Cemetery near Pocahontas.

"We gather today to pay tribute to a true veteran," said Wendell Miller, president of the Allen Laws Oliver chapter of the Missouri Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. The chapter hosted the ceremony, which ended with a dedication pledge to "the forefathers who gave us independence and a nation of free men."

Walker's grave is one of three that have been marked by the SAR chapter since its founding in 1989, Miller said.

The graves of Uriah Brock and Thomas English were marked at earlier ceremonies. Brock is buried at Lorimier Cemetery and English is buried outside the city limits, near Bloomfield Road, both in Cape Girardeau.

Another Revolutionary War soldier is also buried in the Apple Creek Cemetery but his grave hasn't been officially marked. Walker and he were neighbors in North Carolina and in Cape Girardeau.

Walker was born in 1748 in North Carolina. He and his six brothers fought in the battle at King's Mountain during the war. He later moved to Cape Girardeau, where he lived until his death in 1829.

Although records showed that Walker farmed in the area, his gravestone had essentially disappeared. Only two inches of the original stone remain buried in the ground at the Apple Creek Presbyterian Church Cemetery. About 30 years ago, the grave was marked by the Daughters of the American Revolution.

The DAR records helped Steven Pledger, SAR chapter historian, find where Walker was buried. He finally discovered the plot by using old church records.

"It's a rare occasion to mark a grave because there are so few in the area," Miller said, adding that about 15 Revolutionary War soldiers lived in Southeast Missouri.

Once Pledger found the actual grave site, he had to prove that Walker fought in the Revolutionary War in order to apply for a special grave marker. The government furnishes the white military-style markers for the graves of veterans.

Getting it to the cemetery proved to be another challenge for the SAR chapter. The marker was originally scheduled to arrive last May and the dedication would have been held during the church's annual meeting in August. But the stone, which was engraved in Mississippi, didn't arrive on time. After several more months of waiting, the ceremony was then scheduled for Veterans Day weekend.

"Our main emphasis is finding the graves," Miller said. "And there are very few so it's a big deal when we mark one."

All 15 chapter members have proved their descendants fought in the Revolutionary War. But it's not an easy process to find all the records and grave sites, Pledger said.

He had to trace his roots to Georgia before he could join the chapter. Most of the members here have relatives buried in other states.

More than 25,000 members have joined SAR chapters in each state, the District of Columbia, France, Switzerland, Germany, Canada and the United Kingdom.

For more information, contact the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, 1000 S. Fourth St., Louisville, Ky. 40203.