The tiny crosses of Evergreen

One of the most intriguing subjects to me about life is the “unknown.” No, I’m not talking about deep space aliens, paranormal events or anything of that sort. Instead, I mean the slight bit of excitement you get when you come across something you don’t know. Maybe it’s a mystery that’s completely lost, or, maybe it’s something that you, alone, just don’t know yet. If you catch the “I have to find out” bug, then the next thing you know, you’re digging in and researching to find those answers. Well, in today’s case of “Houston’s History Files” I’m going to cover one of those subjects for me. I have to warn you, this one deals with loss, sadness and sensitive subjects, especially to parents.

If you’ve ever strolled through Evergreen Cemetery, in Perry, there’s a chance you’ve made your way to the back portion of the hallowed grounds and come across little white crosses. There have been rumors for years about these crosses, but the big question is “who are they?” For me, they were almost the single-most take-away when I first visited this resting place. There was so much wonder, sadness and contemplation in my mind. Then, like I always do, I took a trip to the Perry Area Historical Museum to find out. I figured, if there was anyone who knew about the graves, it would be Ellie or Wayne. I wasn’t disappointed. In fact, after learning about them, I was saddened, yet thankful. Allow me to explain.

I guess the best way to explain who they are is to break them up into groups like it was done for me. First, to address the rumors I initially heard about them, yes there are some slaves in this group, buried in Evergreen. Once living breathing humans who have the right to be honored for their time spent on this earth. The next group are babies. There is a section of Evergreen known as “Baby Land” or (as I prefer) “Angel Land” where service members of the military laid their loved ones, who didn’t make it far into the world, when they had no idea what to do in the event that they had to move to another base. Precious little lives that were gone too soon. Next, and the reason I became thankful, was because some of these crosses represent the workers who built Robins Air Force Base. Imagine people who flocked from all over the country to help build, some of them died with no family to take care of them and nowhere to go. The last group of people under these white crosses are simply the ones who were unfortunate enough to pass away without funds for a monument.

I know that was a little rough to read, but I did warn you. Now that we are through it, though, I wanted to take some time right here to pause and reflect. Knowing what you know now about these graves, I hope it gives you a sense of appreciation and clarity for the current life you live and the loved ones around you. Others who came before us, and even some people around us now, are going through struggles that the majority of us will never know. These groups of people, and their families, represent some of the hardest time’s our history has ever faced. For me, they stand as reminders to never take my life for granted. They also help to keep us humble. Why? Because the only difference between these graves and the most well-known or longest living ones is the tombstones on top of them. What’s underneath teaches us that we are all the same. I challenge you, next time you’re free, go give them a visit. Experience them for yourself. Leave a flower, say a prayer for gratitude or sympathy. Pause your life for a moment. As always, do your part to keep this beautiful cemetery clean.

Normally, here is where I wrap up Houston’s History Files for this story and set up the next one, but I wanted to share something personal with you, as a tribute. My loving wife, our children and myself lost our beloved dog, Roxy, this week after 16 years of love and life. She was the best of girls and she gave the best “booger sugars” around. She will be sorely missed by all of us, and we would appreciate your prayers, if you pray. As you can tell, we are a bit emotional as I wrote this column, so briefly, I wanted to thank Dr. Hodges, of Critter Fixers in Warner Robins, for allowing us to have some extra time with our Roxy last year and personally making a phone call to my wife once he heard the news. This is not an advertisement, no, it’s simply a thank you from a comforted family. Rest in Paradise, Roxy. Get ‘em, girl, that’s a girl.

That’s it for this column. Next time, were there really POW camps here during WW2? We’ll explore the idea and what we know. As always, should you have something you’d like for me to cover, send me an email at hauntedhistory@protonmail.com. For some of my other work, you can visit haunted-history.org. See you next time!

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