AN OVERARCHING THEME OF PATRIOTISM
BY CHRIS HAUGH SPECIAL TO THE NEWS-POST
Many recognize Frederick’s Mount Olivet Cemetery as the final resting place of Francis Scott Key and Barbara Fritchie, two former residents of the city who gained eternal fame thanks to a song and poem, respectively, written about the United States flag under attack by an enemy.
Flags fly regularly over both individuals’ graves, but on Veterans Day, visitors will see thousands more in the form of small flaglets dotting the hallowed landscape and waving over the final resting places of nearly 4,800 military veterans.
The cemetery opened in 1854, but is home to veterans who died earlier and were re-interred here.
These include a French & Indian War veteran, Thomas Beatty (1735-1815), and more than 40 American Revolution “patriots” such as Gov. Thomas Johnson Jr. and Maj. Peter Mantz (1752-1833), both officers in Maryland’s “Flying Camp.”
Mount Olivet has more than 100 War of 1812 soldiers, including Frederick’s Capt. John Brengle (1772-1835), who recruited a local militia outfit that fought at the Battle of North Point in Baltimore while Francis Scott Key wrote his “Star-Spangled Banner” nearby.
Lt. Earlston Hargett was killed in action during World War 1.
COVER PHOTO BY RIC DUGAN
“ Mount Olivet is the resting place of nearly 4,800 military veterans.
CHRIS HAUGH, historian and preservation manager at Mount Olivet Cemetery
One can visit the final resting place of 2nd Lt. Edward McPherson of the 3rd Regiment of Dragoons, killed in 1848 as a result of a duel with a fellow officer in Tamaulipas, Mexico, during the Mexican War.
Fourteen years later, the cemetery would bury both Union and Confederate dead during the American Civil War.
Confederate Row contains more than 700 Rebel soldiers who died in the city’s network of hospitals. A former Union Row included more than 1,000 soldiers, however most would be moved to Antietam National Cemetery in 1867.
The first Union casualty of Frederick was 21-year-old Sgt. Conradt Mehrling of Co. I of the 13th MD Regt., killed May 27, 1862, at Loudoun Heights, Virginia, near Harpers Ferry.
Surviving vets from the war are here in great numbers, as well as others associated with the Spanish American War. Jesse Claggett (1851-1911) served as Maryland’s only “Rough Rider” under Col. Teddy Roosevelt and participated in the storming of San Juan Hill (Cuba) in July 1898.
A few years ago, the Mount Olivet Cemetery World War I Memorial Gazebo was erected as a tribute to more than 600 courageous men and women of that conflict — 12 of whom died during active duty.
Three of these — 1st Lt Earlston L. Hargett, Pvt. Charles Shaw Simpson, and 1st Lt. John Reading Schley (Frederick’s first military aviator) — died on the European front in eastern France in the fall of 1918.
Nine others perished, both home and abroad, from the deadly Spanish Flu pandemic.
Mount Olivet is also the final home to four women who served in the U.S. Navy as Yeoman (f)’s, including Charlotte Berry Winters — the oldest living female veteran of “the Great War.” She died in 2007 at 109 years old.
In 1948, a World War II Memorial was dedicated. Two large pillars surround a symbolic eternal flame atop a pedestal with the names of all Frederick Countians lost during the conflict.
In fact, the graves of 30 of these individuals form a semi-circle around the monument. One of these is Brig. Gen. Allan Clay McBride (1885-1944), a member of Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s staff in the Pacific.
McBride would be captured in the Philippines and participated in the infamous Bataan Death March of April 1942. He later died in a POW Camp in Taiwan.
The population of Korean War veterans has steadily increased in recent years. Among the first was Cpl. Victor L. Wills, a member of the Army’s Co. M, 31st Infantry Division.
Wills was born in 1932 and grew up on Frederick’s West 4th Street. He lost his life in early June 1952 in Songjong, Korea.
Of course, in the decades to follow, Frederick boys would fight in another war in Vietnam.
population. Thankfully, many vets did not see warfare, but their dedication to cause and country is equally important and admirable.
Wreaths Across America Day
This year’s “Wreaths Across America” Day will occur Saturday, Dec. 13, with the ceremony at Mount Olivet starting at 12 noon at the World War II Memorial in Area EE. To sponsor wreaths, visit wreathsacrossamerica.org and use the location code of MDMOCF.
2nd Lt. Daniel Spenser Brittain was a combatant who earned the unfortunate distinction of being Frederick’s first casualty on May 30, 1966. The former Frederick High Cadet turned U.S. Marine died in Quang Nam, Vietnam, as a member of Co. C, 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regt, 3rd Div.
This is just a small sampling of Mount Olivet’s veteran
Many of these veterans’ gravesites will be adorned by sponsored wreaths in mid-December during “Wreaths Across America.” This annual event is designed to honor fallen heroes and show respect for those who served and continue to serve.
Chris Haugh serves as Mount Olivet Cemetery’s historian and preservation manager. He has written about many of the veterans mentioned here in his “Stories in Stone” blog found at MountOlivet History.com.
PHOTOS BY RIC DUGAN LEFT: Burial place of Frances Scott Key at Mount Olivet Cemetery. ABOVE RIGHT: The World War II Memorial at Mount Olivet Cemetery. ABOVE LEFT: Tombstones of soliders killed in Civil War.
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OVER THE YEARS
For generations, The Frederick News-Post and its predecessors have shared military news about the United States and its war efforts with Frederick County readers. The following is a sample of front-page news from wire services through the years.
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SSGT Melvin Hurwitz
United States Air Corps ı 1925-2025
FOUR YEARS AGO, MELVIN HURWITZ WROTE THIS RETROSPECTIVE OF HIS LIFE: My parents, Russian Jews, were born in Belarus and immigrated to the United States after the turn of the century. They met and married in Baltimore, Maryland.
I was 1 of 4 boys, raised in a small town, Westminster, Md. My father, Benjamin, was a watchmaker-jeweler whose business eventually evolved into jewelry stores that are now celebrating 101 years in business, going into the 4th generation.
All of the brothers served in WW2, and each one in a different branch. I was born in 1925. That makes me 96 today.
I enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps when I turned 18 years of age. In the interest of brevity, I was trained to be a Radio-Gunner on a B-17, then considered the heavy bomber. At McDill Field, Florida, crews were assembled and these were the strangers that would become your new friends and wartime buddies. We flew overseas to England (snowbound in Iceland for 9 days) and eventually to (East Anglia) Ipswich area to the 493rd Bomb Group.
We arrived in January 1944.
My military flight record is as follows: 1 over Germany, 2 over Czechoslovakia and 2 over Royan, France.
I flew 2 `Chowhound` missions, dropping food to the starving Dutch. Arrangements were made with the German government not to fire at us and we flew as low as 300 feet to drop food instead of bombs.
The war was finally over and we flew 2 missions to take French prisoners of war from Linz, Austria, back home to Chantilly, France. We stripped these men of their garments, burned their clothes, deloused them, wrapped them in blankets and took them back home.
When the war ended, again we flew back home to the United States in our wonderful B-17. I went into B-29 training to go into the war with Japan, but I was only there 1 week. They dropped the bomb and it was all over.
There are so many stories to be told of these experiences and hardly any time left. But for an 18-year-young boy who had never been away from home, it was an exciting and memorable period of my
life that I have taken with me to the end.
HIS FAMILY ADDED:
In the last five years of his life, Melvin became heavily involved with the Best Defense Foundation, a nonprofit group dedicated to providing support for veterans.
One of their missions is to take veterans back to the places where they served. Melvin traveled with them to the 80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, and last year, at the age of 99, to the 80th anniversary of the Invasion of Normandy, where he met and talked with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He also traveled to Germany, New Orleans, and other locations.
He has been featured in numerous publications and online features.
Melvin was proud of his military service at such a young age, and was always proud to share his stories, believing that it was important for other generations to learn from them. He considered his “last hurrah” to be a private tour of Camp David, which happened just a few months ago. He died at the age of 100 on Sunday, Oct. 19.
Vivian (Bim) Sorrelle
U.S. NAVY I 4 YEARS SERVICE
Wilbur (Bill) Sorrelle
U.S. NAVY I 4 YEARS SERVICE
Bill and Bim met while they were both in the Navy, stationed in Banning, California, in 1944. Bill was enlisted (Pharmacist Mate First Class, E-6) and Bim was an Ensign, O-1.
Gregory Rolinec
U.S. ARMY
4 YEARS SERVICE
William “Bill” Scheetz
U.S. ARMY
Served in Vietnam, he was honorably discharged in 1971, but remained in the Army Reserve Corps until 1974.
Jonathan Kissane
U.S. ARMY I 1974-2004
Photo taken in June 1984 at Normandy, France, during the 40th anniversary of D-Day.
Jessica (Kissane) Johnson
U.S. ARMY I 2012-2016
Born into an Army family, she served as a CPT Social Worker in Afghanistan in 2014.
Kelsey Thompson
U.S. ARMY I 1968-1970 Vietnam veteran
Kathleen (Fisher) Kissane
U.S. ARMY I 1972-1979
Army nurse, met and married 2LT Jonathan Kissane. Together, they have served 30 years as an Army family.
Stephen Craig Gillis
U.S. ARMY 28 YEARS SERVICE
SALUTING OUR LOCAL VETERANS
Donald Fleming
U.S. ARMY I 3 YEARS SERVED World War II veteran –served in Africa/India
Christopher von Gunten
U.S. NAVY I 5 YEARS SERVICE Served on the USS California
Philip G. Smullen
U.S. ARMY 1955-1957
Conard B. Davis Sr. U.S. ARMY 1949-1952
Smith Sr. U.S. NAVY
Calvin P. Shafer Jr.
U.S. ARMY 2 YEARS SERVICE
Conard B. Davis U.S. ARMY 1980-1983
Stephen J. Matthews
U.S. ARMY 20 YEARS SERVICE
Donald E. Washabaugh
U.S. ARMY I 2 YEARS SERVED Proudly served during the Korean War
Charles
Capt. Robert J. Furie, M.D.
U.S. NAVY I 1945
Served in Japan in World War II
Carol Haase & Norman Birzer
U.S. NAVY I 4 / 20 YEARS SERVICE
They met in the Navy and married in California 55 years ago.
Justin Ray Davis
U.S. ARMY I 2005-2006
Korengal Valley, Afghanistan
Brig. Gen. Evelyn (Pat) Foote
U.S. ARMY 33+ YEARS SERVED
Charles ‘Doc’ Kinney NAVY CORPSMAN
MARINES / COAST GUARD 22 YEARS SERVICE Vietnam 1965
Paul R. Gunther (1975-1996)
George R. Gunther (1948-1996) U.S. NAVY
Charles Ray
U.S. ARMY I 1962-1982
4th Battalion, 18th Artillery in Hanau, Germany
Ralph Coffman
U.S. ARMY 2 YEARS ACTIVE Military police, served in France and Germany during the Cuban missile crisis.
Gary L. Rollins
U.S. NAVY 8 YEARS SERVED
SALUTING OUR LOCAL VETERANS
Gary Michael Rand
U.S. ARMY Served in Vietnam
Kenneth “Mack” Woerner
U.S. NAVY I 1944-1945 Served in World War II
Courtney Nicodemus
U.S. MARINES
Louis Evangelista
Thomas Evangelista
U.S. ARMY / U.S. NAVY 1942-1946
Sgt. Major Charles Davis
U.S. MARINES 1973-2001
Michael G. Bradley
U.S. NAVY 10 YEARS SERVICE
Mike Kline
U.S. NAVY Served on the USS Enterprise.
Bill Kreh
U.S. NAVY I 1945-1947
Author of Citizen Sailors: the US Naval Reserve in War & Peace and editor of the Navy Times newspaper.
Col. Michael Kuhn
U.S. MARINES 30 YEARS SERVED
Harry M. Haines
U.S. ARMY I 1965-1971 SP5 Company A 1BN 115 Infantry 29th Infantry Division
Lou Charland
U.S. NAVY 30+ YEARS SERVED
Patricia LaVerne Dailey
U.S. NAVY 4 YEARS SERVED
Harry R. Haines
U.S. ARMY I 6 YEARS SERVED Company A 1st BN 115 Infantry
William Harris Jr.
U.S. AIR FORCE 1982-1990
Thomas Shackelford
U.S. ARMY 21+ YEARS SERVED
Earl N. Haines
U.S. ARMY I 1943-1946
World War II combat veteran in the European theatre
John Thomas Hanes
U.S. ARMY I 3 YEARS SERVICE Served in division of Ninth Army Tank and received three bronze stars.
CDR Larry Hushour
U.S. NAVY I 20 YEARS SERVED VAW 121, “the Bluetails” – flew off the USS Eisenhower, CVN 69.
SALUTING OUR LOCAL VETERANS
Charles Richard Bollinger
U.S. ARMY 18 YEARS OF SERVICE
Sgt. Jonathan Marks
U.S. MARINES I 2014-2029 2d Intelligence Battalion
Conrad “Bing” Bangh
U.S. MARINES I 1963-1969 Vietnam veteran
Tom McLaughlin
U.S. ARMY 1982-1986
William “Bill” T. Young
U.S. ARMY 1953-1956
Robert H. Maucione
U.S. MARINES I 1967-1972 Served in Vietnam in 1968.
John DeLauder
U.S. ARMY 4 YEARS SERVED
Linda DeLauder
U.S. NAVY 1967-1970
Darryl Brown
Kaylin Davis
SALUTING OUR LOCAL VETERANS
Irving John Henry Shankles Jr.
U.S. ARMY
4 YEARS SERVED
Larry Thompson Sr.
U.S. AIR FORCE
4 YEARS SERVED Vietnam veteran
U.S. ARMY Joined in 1968 and served in Vietnam.
Col. Maya Scarpitt
U.S. ARMY
Sgt. Merrell D. Wilson
U.S. AIR FORCE I 1967-1971 Vietnam & South East Asia. Received many medals during his service.
Frank McLister
U.S. MARINES
23 YEARS SERVED
Retired as a Major – Semper Fi
Otis E. Smith Jr.
Richard C. Brady
James T. Reckley
Charles T. Wanamaker U.S. MARINES 1960-1966
Phillip Anthony Stanton
U.S. AIR FORCE
Served during the Korean War
U.S. NAVY I 1968-1972
Served aboard the USS Grand Canyon
Kenneth Wayne Cregger
U.S. MARINES
Charles E. Stanton Sr.
U.S. AIR FORCE
Served during the Korean War and was a military policeman.
Keith Midberry
U.S. NAVY I 1972-1976
U.S. COAST GUARD I 1976-1996 San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1988
Ralph H. Fink
U.S. AIR FORCE I 1943-1946
7th Fighter Command. WWII, served in the Western Pacific, Iwo Jima.
Joseph R. Stanton
U.S. ARMY
Served during the Korean War.
U.S. ARMY
Twenty years of service, including two tours in Vietnam.
U.S. ARMY 1959-1962
SP4. Francis “Jerry” Joy
SFC Elmore Cross
Bill Fulmer
SALUTING OUR LOCAL VETERANS
James Hamilton Summers
U.S. ARMY I 1951-1953
35th Infantry Division during Korean War. He was critically injured in July 1952 and received the Purple Heart for wounds received in combat.
Karey J. Kimmel
U.S. NAVY I 1974-1980
Served with his brothers on the US Naval Nuclear Ballistic Missile submarine USS Andrew Jackson. Completed 9 strategic deterrent patrols.
The DeGrange Family
U.S. ARMY
Willard Clem Rudy
U.S. ARMY I 1944-1945
While in Luxenbourg, at the start of the Battle of the Bulge, Rudy’s tank was hit on the first day. He received shrapnel wounds to his right arm and burns to his face and neck. He received the Purple Heart and other medals and is recognized in the National Purple Heart of Honors in Vails Gate, New York.
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