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 Our Pt. Lookout POW Descendants Org. is proud to announce that our CMPI is now the owner of over 3 acres of private land next to the Pt. Lookout POW Confederate Cemetery!! Our project is known as the Confederate Memorial Park and its sole purpose is to honor the sacrifices of the POWs of Pt. Lookout by flying their flag and erecting a statue/ring of flags in their honor!
This is hallowed, sacred land. There is no doubt that some of our ancestors' bones are on this property.
There is a forty-foot high flagpole with a cherished Confederate Battle Flag flying on our private property with a 3 x 4' GORGEOUS "future site of" sign near the road. When we left, our flag was flapping in the wind as if to say, "Look at me! Do you know what I so proudly represent?! I'm a PROUD American Confederate flag and I'm so glad to be here to represent the prisoners of war'!"
Dan Kesler, Jim Dunbar, Billy Buck and myself (Patricia Buck) met on April 9th (Confederate History and Heritage month!) in Leonardtown, MD, at the lawyer's office with the landowner and papers were signed. Afterwards, we went down to The Point and erected the flagpole and a "future site of" sign. We worked for 8 non stop hours in the pouring rain, but by day's end, our mission had been accomplished and cement was setting! We stood by our sign with our Confederate flag waving in the background and popped a cork on a bottle of champagne and toasted to our ancestors' honor and their sacrifice!
Afterwards, our blockade runner Grace Pratt, welcomed us into her home, muddy clothes, shoes and all! She had baked a homemade cake for us and served hot coffee...which surely was a welcome! We got home about midnight.
We have property insurance and have posted "private property-keep off" signs, and police will be called if any foolishness or destruction is done.
This dream was made a reality by everyone who has made a donation to our project. We appreciate your help so much!
When we finish paying off our loan, our next money-raising phase of this project will be to erect a POW statue and ring of state flags. We'd also like to place a memorial bench and the state tree/flower of each Confederate state.
If you haven't contributed thus far, please consider helping us and to ask your camps/ chapters/ organizations to do the same in memory of those Confederate American POWs. We could also use some grants, if anyone would help by sending us contacts or offer assistance in writing them.
A list of contributors is listed on our web page.
Please make your donation checks out to Confederate Memorial Park, Inc. and mail to:
Frank Towberman, Treasurer
P O. Box 337
Claremont, VA 23899
Click on any of the pictures below to see a full size image
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Settlement
Patricia Buck, lawyer Ernie Bell, former land owner Jean Ridgell, Dan Kesler, Jim Dunbar and Billy Buck.
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Jim Dunbar and Jean Ridgell
Jean Ridgell and Patricia Buck
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Ground Breaking Time!
Jim Dunbar, Patricia Buck and Dan Kesler.
This ground breaking shovel was won by PLPOW member Rick Edelen of NJ, during a Silent Auction at our descendants meeting on June 14th.
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Billy Buck digging holes for the sign.
A tarp was put up to keep the rain off the sign and setting of cement. It rained for the 8 hours that we worked on the site.
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Future Site Of sign with our PLPOW and Lee's Miserables Flags to mark our work area. |
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Billy Buck podgeing the cement! |
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Billy Buck, Jim Dunbar and Dan Kesler discussing how they were going to get a forty foot pole upright, in the hole! |
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Billy checking a level for accuracy! |
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Jim Dunbar and Dan Kesler applying tension to the guide lines of the flag pole. |
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Raising the Confederate Battle Flag in honor of the imprisoned and perished POWs of Pt. Lookout |
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40' Confederate Battle Flag. Dan Kesler supplied all materials for the flag and its erection. THANKS, Dan!
There is a sweet, sequestered spot,
Where peace and silence reign;
A fair God's acre is the lot,
Where sleep the Southern slain.
....Alice Graham
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Mission Completed! Champagne Toast given by each of us, in honor of our ancestors who were imprisoned in Pt. Lookout POW Camp. |
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