The funeral procession for an unknown Civil War soldier winds through the streets of Franklin, Tenn. , Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009. The body was accidentally unearthed from a shallow grave by construction workers. It was buried in Rest Haven Cemetery, which contains other Civil War graves.


John Carruth, center, director of the Eighth Regiment Band of Rome, Ga. , stands behind a casket covered with both a Union flag and a Confederate flag as he leads the congregation in singing during the funeral for an unknown Civil War soldier in St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Franklin, Tenn. , Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009. The body was accidentally unearthed from a shallow grave by construction workers. It was buried in Rest Haven Cemetery, which contains other Civil War graves.



The remains of an unknown Civil War soldier are carried in a casket covered with both a Union flag and a Confederate flag after a funeral in St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Franklin, Tenn. , Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009. The body was accidentally unearthed from a shallow grave by construction workers. It was buried in Rest Haven Cemetery, which contains other Civil War graves.



James Brown, seated left, and Harold Becker, seated right, attend the graveside service for an unknown Civil War soldier in Franklin, Tenn. , Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009. Brown, 97, of Knoxville, Tenn. , is the son of a Confederate soldier who fought at Shiloh and *****sburg, and Becker, 91, of Grand Rapids, Mich. , is the son of a Union soldier who fought in the Battle of Franklin. The unknown soldier's body was accidentally unearthed from a shallow grave by construction workers.


People take a close look at the grave containing the remains of an unknown Civil War soldier following the graveside service in Franklin, Tenn. , Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009. The body was accidentally unearthed from a shallow grave by construction workers.






"Korea has not been the only battle ground since the end of the Second World War. Men have fought and died in Malaya, in Greece, in the Philippines, in Algeria and Cuba, and Cyprus and almost continuously on the Indo-Chinese Peninsula. No nuclear weapons have been fired. No massive nuclear retaliation has been considered appropriate. This is another type of war, new in its intensity, ancient in its origin--war by guerrillas, subversives, insurgents, assassins, war by ambush instead of by combat; by infiltration, instead of aggression, seeking victory by eroding and exhausting the enemy instead of engaging him. It is a form of warfare uniquely adapted to what has been strangely called 'wars of liberation,' to undermine the efforts of new and poor countries to maintain the freedom that they have finally achieved. It preys on economic unrest and ethnic conflicts. It requires in those situations where we must counter it, and these are the kinds of challenges that will be before us in the next decade if freedom is to be saved, a whole new kind of strategy, a wholly different kind of force, and therefore a new and wholly different kind of military training."-President Kennedy's Address at Graduation Exercises of the U.S. Military Academy, 1962
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"The reason I'll be released is the same reason you think I'll be convicted. I do rub shoulders with some of the most vile, sadistic men calling themselves leaders today. But some of these men are the enemies of your enemies. And while the biggest arms dealer in the world is your boss - the President of the United States, who ships more merchandise in a day than I do in a year - sometimes it's embarrassing to have his fingerprints on the guns. Sometimes he needs a freelancer like me to supply forces he can't be seen supplying. So. You call me evil, but unfortunately for you, I'm a necessary evil."-Yuri Orlov, Lord of War
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"Of all the weapons in the vast soviet arsenal, nothing was more profitable than Avtomat Kalashnikova model of 1947. More commonly known as the AK-47, or Kalashnikov. It's the world's most popular assault rifle. A weapon all fighters love. An elegantly simple 9 pound amalgamation of forged steel and plywood. It doesn't break, jam, or overheat. It'll shoot whether it's covered in mud or filled with sand. It's so easy, even a child can use it; and they do. The Soviets put the gun on a coin. Mozambique put it on their flag. Since the end of the Cold War, the Kalashnikov has become the Russian people's greatest export. After that comes vodka, caviar, and suicidal novelists. One thing is for sure, no one was lining up to buy their cars."-Yuri Orlov, Lord of War
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Thank you, Oak, for posting this as I was not able to attend the funeral as I wanted. May this unknown rest in peace. How ironic that this field of honor, the site of the Battle of Franklin, is so dishonored that he was found by construction workers who were defiling his resting place. My wife and I are both Battle of Franklin descendants, albeit on opposite sides, and regularly visit Franklin. Her people were 10th and 15th Texas and mine 31st Indiana.




Provost

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.

Calvin Coolidge, President of the United States 1924-1929