On the evening of November 11th, Poplar Grove National Cemetery was the location of a luminary event to commemorate the cemetery’s 140th anniversary.
Members of the park’s staff worked with a number of volunteers to place luminaries on each of the over 6,000 Union soldier graves. As bagpipe music played, candles cast light among the gravesites, while park rangers and re-enactors stood by the headstones of selected soldiers whose stories were read by torchlight.
It’s hoped that this pilot program will become an annual event, as visitors commented on how appropriate it was to honor the soldiers in such as way on Veterans Day.
