Ohio Department of Veterans Services

Each day at sunset, as part of the ODVS Ohio Taps Project, we pay tribute to an Ohioan who died serving our country.

Tonight, we salute Army Spc. Marko M. Samson from Columbus, who died in Tikrit, Iraq, on May 31, 2009.

TOMORROW is the deadline to nominate a veteran into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame Class of 2026. So TODAY, honor a deserving Ohio veteran who continues to go above and beyond by filling out an application at https://dvs.ohio.gov/hall-of-fame/nominations.

Today, on the last day of our 7th annual “Memorial Month” Project, where we highlight a different grave, monument or memorial erected somewhere around our state to honor our fallen veterans of the American Revolution, we finish in Zanesville with the Revolutionary War Patriots Marker, unveiled by the Daughters of the American Revolution in front of the Muskingum County Courthouse to honor soldiers and supporters of the revolution in the Ohio Frontier including Margaret Corbin, the first woman to receive a U.S. military pension, who fought in the Revolutionary War.

Each day at sunset, as part of the ODVS Ohio Taps Project, we pay tribute to an Ohioan who died serving our country.

Tonight, we salute Fairfield Army Cpl. Nicholas H. Olivas, who was killed by an improvised explosive device in Zharay, Afghanistan, on May 30, 2012.

that Ohio’s Captain William Rountree served as the only American soldier to command the Liberian Frontier Force? Born in 1885, in Xenia, Ohio, Rountree served in I Troop of the Ninth Cavalry at Fort D.A. Russell under Brigadier General Charles Young. Rountree was stationed at Fort D.A. Russell from 1909-1915 and as Lieutenant and later Captain of the Liberian Frontier Force from 1915-1918, because of the U.S. was unable to send more American officers due to their focus on World War I.
In the 1930s, Rountree operated a billiards parlor in Xenia, Ohio and passed away at the age of 48 on April 26, 1934, in Xenia where he is buried at Cherry Grove Cemetery.

The first major Memorial Day observance was held 158 years ago today in 1868. On that first “Decoration Day,” General James Garfield, an Ohioan who would later be President, made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Civil War soldiers buried in the cemetery. By the late 19th century, many communities across the country had begun to celebrate Memorial Day, and after World War I, observers began to honor the dead of all of America’s wars. Celebrated on May 30 for more than 100 years, Memorial Day became a national holiday in 1971 and since has been celebrated the last Monday in May.

Did you know that several Ohioans played a key role in the Lincoln Memorial, which was dedicated in 1922 by Ohioan and former President William H. Taft, who at the time was serving as Chief Justice of the United States? The memorial was built by contractor M.F. Comer of Toledo, and presented to President Warren G. Harding, another Ohioan, who accepted it on behalf of the American people. Abraham Lincoln’s only surviving son, Robert Todd Lincoln, was present at the dedication ceremony. You can watch film clips of the dedication from the National Archives at https://youtu.be/DVUbzOk8mCc?si=fNoZWYEIGLpwtOG1

Did you know that the idea for Memorial Day may have come from an Ohio veteran?
Born in Milford Center, Ohio, Norton P. Chipman’s family moved to Iowa when he was young where he enlisted in the Union Army's Second Iowa Infantry during the Civil War.

Lieutenant Colonel Chipman fought courageously in battle and was nearly mortally wounded and carried off the battlefield, leading his commanders to report him as dead at the Battle of Fort Donelson. Chipman did, in fact, survive and, upon recovery, was promoted to the rank of colonel in 1862. Chipman and fellow Ohioan Ulysses S. Grant fought together in the Battle of Fort Donelson, which became Grant's first major victory. Chipman later became a member of the Judge Advocate General's staff.

After the war, Chipman moved to Washington, D.C., to work at the War Department under Secretary Edwin M. Stanton. Chipman successfully prosecuted Captain Henry Wirz, the commander of the Confederacy's infamous Andersonville prison camp, where almost 13,000 Union soldiers lost their lives.

Chipman was appointed Secretary of the District of Columbia by President Ulysses S. Grant, and was later elected to Congress as a delegate from the District of Columbia, serving two terms.

While adjutant general of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), Chipman received a note from a friend in Cincinnati. The note suggested that the United States mimic the European custom of decorating graves of people who died while serving in the military. Chipman loved the idea, and he decided the day should be late in the spring, in order to make sure mature flowers were available. Because May 31 fell on a Sunday that year, he declared May 30, 1868, to be Decoration Day, a day to decorate the graves of fallen soldiers from the Civil War. The Associated Press published the order around the country. On that first Decoration Day, General James Garfield (also an Ohioan) made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, and 5,000 participants decorated the graves of the 20,000 Civil War soldiers buried there. Decoration Day later became Memorial Day and an official federal holiday in 1971.

Norton Chipman died on February 1, 1924, at the age of 89.

Our ODVS “Memorial Month” Project highlights a different monument or memorial created to honor our fallen veterans. We continue today with Bellville Cemetery in Richland County where 5 of the county’s 90 Revolutionary War veterans are buried according to the according to America 250 Ohio Revolutionary War Veterans Graves Project database.