Shanna Riley April 16th, 2011
I was quite excited to have stumbled upon, and been able to record, the grave of a recipient of the United States' infamous Purple Heart.
According to Wikipedia, the Purple Heart is:
...a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military.
I wasn't even supposed to be graving that day, I just happened to stop at a small cemetery next to the beautiful and historic Grace Episcopal Church in St. Francisville, called Mount Carmel Catholic Church Cemetery, and decided to snap a few photos of the interesting, modern graves there.
Many were young people with photos on their graves - their headstones filled with images and bereft words from those they'd left behind. You can see some of these in my Picasa album over at Google.
While there, be sure to see the three photos of the headstones of Danny "Rod" Rodriguez. He's got a lovely black marble headstone and his footstone is the traditional veteran's marker, indicating that he was a Purple Heart recipient.
We can see that Danny, born in 1948 and who died in 1993, fought in Vietnam.
Incessant Google searches turned up nothing on the handsome man who was an Army soldier that earned a Purple Heart in Vietnam, was known as "Rod" to friends, who loved to hunt and was a "Loving and Devoted Husband, Father and Friend".
Sometimes all we have are the headstones left to tell a story, but if you look close enough the picture can be filled in quite well - other times, however, it can leave even more of a mystery.
We can learn a good bit about Danny from his headstone, but we know nothing of his actual life, where he was born or how he died.
There is truly a story behind every headstone; what may be just another grave to you is, without a doubt, a very special marker commemorating a person who was beloved and dearly missed by family and friends.
The tapestry of their life, who they were, what they did, how they loved and lost, strove and tarried, is often a mystery...and that's part of the beauty for me - as a storyteller - of a cemetery.
Do you have any Purple Heart grave photos you've snapped? If so, please photo reply.
The Cemetery
Danny is buried in what I dub the "newer" part of the beautiful, moss-draped, sun-dappled graveyard that surrounds Gothic and historic Grace Episcopal Church Cemetery in the special little town of St. Francisville, on the Mississippi River in West Feliciana Parish. Though partially connected, this is actually Mount Carmel Catholic Church Cemetery.
Most of us here in south Louisiana have a bit of a love affair with the historical little town - it's beauty is lush and its history abundant. If you have a passion for history, old settlements, or long-standing plantation homes, then you must visit - in person or even online - St. Francisville (est. 1809).
The town was founded by Capuchin friars who crossed the river from Pointe Coupee Parish to bury their dead on the bluffs. The settlement that grew up around this boneyard was named after their patron saint, St. Francis.
The "newer" part of the cemetery I spoke of is actually quite old and is called the Old Burying Grounds and, though connected to the older cemetery and church of Grace, is not related (the one being Anglican/Episcopal and the other Catholic).
Both cemeteries are worth a trip, as is the town itself. Across the river lies the historic city of New Roads, in Pointe Coupee Parish, that was established in the 1720s by settlers from France and is one of the oldest settlements along the Mississippi River.
Of interesting note is the town's oxbow lake, False River, that formed around 1772 when the Mississippi changed course during seasonal flooding and cut a shorter channel eastward. Before this, the area of False River was the main channel of the Mississippi, affording cities like New Roads extensive chances to grow at the time.
(A bit off-topic, but I was surprised - during my research - to find that my grade school Alma mater, False River Academy, has its own Wikipedia page!)
There is a ferry that has long gone between St. Francisville and New Roads - many take it daily to get to and from work. Currently (finally) a bridge - the John James Audubon - is being built to connect the two communities and land masses; it is slated to be finished this year and will be the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America.
Tags: capuchin friars, danny rodriguez, false river, find a grave, grace episcopal church cemetery, graver, graving, john james audubon bridge, louisiana cemeteries, mount carmel catholic church cemetery, new roads, purple heart, st francisville, veteran grave, veteran grave marker, veteran marker, vietnam war