Pueblo's neightbor to the north is Colorado Springs, home the the United States Air Force Academy.  Near the center of downtown is a statue of one of the city's founding fathers, William Jackson Palmer.   Mr. Palmer died in 1909 and is buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs.    Far less known than the fact that Palmer was instrumental in the establishment of this city is the fact that during the Civil War, with less than 200 men he attacked and defeated a larger force and captured 100 prisoners, all without loosing a man.  His headstone bears the distinctive gold imprint of the Medal of Honor.   Not far away in the same cemetery is another Medal of Honor marker, this to World War II hero Floyd K. Lindstrom who was killed in action during his moment of valor.   Two great heroes from different wars almost a century apart, each with an inspiring history for those who take the time to learn about them.

We encourage schools and organizations to adopt living recipients because we feel it is important to remember and honor our heroes DURING THEIR LIFETIME.  (It seems all too often that we don't take these steps until after they are gone from us.)  At the same time however, we believe it is important to remember our heroes of the past.  There is so much to learn from them if we will take the time to learn about them.

The chances are very strong that there is a Medal of Honor recipient buried near or even IN your own hometown.  The chances are equally strong that, but for family and perhaps a few local veterans, they are largely forgotten.   Resurecting their memory can be a "gold mine" of opportunity for your community.

When Doyle Cooper's Social Studies classes adopted the grave site of Warren Dockum back in 1993 they not only chose to expend efforts to clean and maintain his grave site, but also his memory.  Using news stories from old newspapers they began to find more and more information about him including an interview in 1921 where he talked about his military service and Medal of Honor action.  The local historical society added more material to the study, and within a few weeks the students located the great-grandchildren of the Civil War hero living nearby.  Many of them weren't even aware of the honor bestowed upon the Dockum patriarch.  The students further learned that Mr. Dockum's Medal had been lost decades before in a fire and began a letter writing campaign to Colorado Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell to get the Medal restored to the family.  Though they were unable, due to some legislative restrictions, to get the Medal reissued, with the help of Senator Campbell some measure of their great-grandfather's legacy was restored to the family in person at a patriotic assembly here in 1993.

We have provided a state-by-state listing of the burial sites of Medal of Honor recipients.  Feel free to use it to connect to a part of your own local history.   As always, feel free to contact us if we may be of assistance.