Roger Cudnohufsky, a committee member and member of the American Legion Post 461, knew for years about the Civil War veterans in the cemetery, even though any grave markers had long since disappeared. Old cemetery maps showed the location of the graves, and Cudnohufsky confirmed this by finding the coffins with a metal rod.

But cemetery records are vague, committee chairman and veteran Mike Madigan said, and no one could find information on the names of the buried veterans or when they died.

A recent trip to the Alamo, which featured a plaque dedicated to unknown soldiers, inspired Cudnohufsky to ask the committee to do something similar for the Dunbar Cemetery’s Civil War veterans.

“If they’re buried here, they should be recognized,” Cudnohufsky said.

From left, Dennis Marcely, Dennis Plemel, Gary Powell and Roger Cudnohufsky install one of the white marble headstones recognizing a Civil War veteran in the Dunbar Cemetery.

Madigan contacted Veterans Affairs officials in Washington, D.C., about getting proper headstones. But he ran into a few difficulties, since he didn’t know the Civil War veterans’ names, so he began a search for any proof they were buried in the Dunbar Cemetery.

Madigan was looking through the 1988 Dunbar centennial book when he came across a list of musings about the early days of Dunbar, attributed to Martin Anglim and “others.” Anglim was cited in the book as the “oldest native-born resident of Dunbar” at the time.

One excerpt provided Madigan with the evidence he sought. It reads:

“On Decoration Day, the first and second grade would march to the cemetery and put flags on the graves of the three Civil War veterans buried there. There was a white picket fence around the graves, but that is long gone, as are the grave markers. The American Legion now puts three flags under the big pine tree on the south side of the cemetery.”

The passage offers no further information about what years this Decoration Day ceremony took place or the names of the Civil War veterans, but VA officials accepted it as proof and shipped three white marble headstones to Dunbar in July, Madigan said.

Each stone, which simply reads “Unknown U.S. Soldier,” was installed in the cemetery soon after.

The cemetery committee is pleased to recognize the Civil War veterans, Madigan said, just as it has recognized other deceased veterans with the veterans’ memorial area on the cemetery grounds. More than 80 veterans from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Persian Gulf War are buried in the cemetery, Cudnohufsky said.

Dunbar’s cemetery committee includes Madigan, Cudnohufsky, Dennis Plemel, Jayne Collins and Sue Ann Rohde-Perry.

Nikki Younk can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 41, or nyounk@ironmountaindailynews.com.