Interred veterans to receive military markers
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 1 day AGO
Joseph Alexander Phillips served in the Civil War.
Elmer Jess served in France during World War I.
Three veterans in Mica Peak Cemetery do not have appropriate, permanent gravestones or markers that reflected and honored their service to their country, so the American Legion Kootenai Post 14 of Coeur d’Alene plans to remedy the situation.
A ceremony for three veterans interred at Mica Peak Cemetery is scheduled May 13.
It recently came to the attention of American Legion Post 14 Kootenai County of Coeur d’Alene three veterans in Mica Peak Cemetery did not have appropriate, permanent gravestones or markers that reflected and honored their service to their country.
Joseph Alexander Phillips served in the Civil War. Elmer Jess served in France during World War I. The third, Marine Lance Corporal Timothy Bell, served in the Persian Gulf in the late 1990s.
These veterans were all interred in Mica Peak, a small rural cemetery near Rockford, Wash., about 4 miles outside Idaho and outside the normal purview of Post 14.
Post 14 became involved at the behest of Bob Burton, president of the Mica Peak Cemetery Association. None of the veterans have proper headstones. Two of them had small, temporary markers when interred over 100 years ago, but both were of poor quality and deteriorated over the years. One is completely missing.
Burton, a Rotary Club member, tried unsuccessfully to contact Veterans Affairs and other service organizations in his service area, but the Rockford American Legion post disbanded several years earlier.
Out of frustration, Burton spoke with another Rotarian, former Post 14 Commander Robert Smee, to see if he could help. In an effort to obtain proper grave markers for these brothers-in-arms, Smee once again started the process and contacted the post's executive committee to determine interest and ability in pursuing the cause. The post agreed to research those laid to rest to verify their U.S. military service.
All three were verified veterans, and their service will now be indicated by official bronze memorial military markers.
Eric English of English Funeral Home in Coeur d'Alene and T.J. Harris of Coeur d’Alene Memorial Gardens helped with the process.
Mica Peak Cemetery is in Saxby, Wash., on the north side of Elder Road. It can be accessed by Highway 95 via Elder Road and is just past the state line.
Elmer Jess served in France during World War I.
Three veterans in Mica Peak Cemetery do not have appropriate, permanent gravestones or markers that reflected and honored their service to their country, so the American Legion Kootenai Post 14 of Coeur d’Alene plans to remedy the situation.