Fallen veterans honored in service at GAR Cemetery

SULPHUR SPRINGS — Several people gathered at the GAR Cemetery northeast of Sulphur Springs for Memorial Day services Monday afternoon, May 30. Family members with loved ones buried there strolled through the headstones, looking for their graves and placing flowers on them.

At 2 p.m. Joe Rainey, camp commander of McPherson Camp #1, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War in Rogers, opened the ceremony by reciting the Americans Creed, then leading the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States.

Rainey explained that GAR stands for Grand Army of the Republic, the first established veterans’ organization. Comrades in the GAR helped each other, he said, and planned for an annual observance to honor their fallen brothers in arms. No particular ceremony was prescribed, but each camp was to plan its own observance. Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) is a successor to the GAR, Rainey said.

Rainey said that Civil War veterans probably gathered at Sulphur Springs because of the healing waters of the springs for which the town is named. Many had suffered from dysentery, cholera and pneumonia during the war and were looking for relief from their ailments. There was once a camp at Sulphur Springs, several members vowed to be buried together and the cemetery atop this lovely hill in the Ozarks was established.

Commander Rainey said that, when he learned about this cemetery, he felt compelled to come and honor his comrades buried there. He pointed out that it is much more than a GAR cemetery, as veterans from World Wars I and II, the Korean War, Vietnam and the Gulf War are now buried there, several being descendants of the early GAR veterans, and the SUVCW is charged with honoring the veterans of all wars.

He mentioned that the body of Sgt. M. Waldo Hatler, the only Congressional Medal of Honor winner buried in Benton County, lies there. Hatler served in the U.S. Army in World War I and died in 1967 in Neosho, Mo.

Jim Spillars, bugler for McPherson Camp, played taps just after a trio of camp members fired a salute to conclude the ceremony. Riflemen included Bob Underdown, camp communications officer; Jim Spillars and his son, young artilleryman Jacob Spillars, 17.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, Commander Rainey invited all to stay until 3 p.m. when bugler Spillars would join other buglers and play his horn for a “Bugles Across America” observance.

Rainey also invited anyone interested and eligible to join the Arkansas Sons of Union Veterans. There are Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War camps in Van Buren, Fort Smith and Little Rock and another chapter is now forming in Hot Springs. The McPherson Camp of SUVCW, the only one in the area, meets the fourth Tuesday of each month at the Whole Hog Cafe in Rogers.

Westside Eagle Observer/SUSAN HOLLAND Riflemen Jim Spillars (left), and his son Jacob Spillars, 17, wait for fellow camp member Bob Underdown to finish loading his rifle just before firing a memorial volley at Monday’s Memorial Day service. The men are members of McPherson Camp #1, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. Underdown is the camp communications officer.

Westside Eagle Observer/SUSAN HOLLAND Members of McPherson Camp #1, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War in Rogers, bow their heads and rest on their rifles while camp bugler Jim Spillars plays taps. Pictured are riflemen Bob Underdown and Jacob Spillars, who along with Jim Spillars had just finished firing a memorial volley, and camp commander Joe Rainey.

Westside Eagle Observer/SUSAN HOLLAND This large headstone marks the grave of Sgt. M. Waldo Hatler, the only Congressional Medal of Honor winner buried in Benton County, in the GAR Cemetery northeast of Sulphur Springs.