KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A KCK couple calls the condition of a civil war veteran’s grave a disgrace. So, the couple took it upon themselves to make it look more fitting for a war hero, on Memorial Day.
Brune Marshal Cemetery is tucked away on a dead-end street in KCK. Among the handful of plots at the cemetery, is the grave of a veteran .
Dennis Roscher had just stopped by a garage sale next door to the cemetery when he stumbled upon the gravesite covered in weeds. Dennis, a veteran, who was a military police officer automatically did his best to dig away weeds and even placed a flag at the gravesite.
“We may not be related, but someone remembered him,” Sharon Roscher said. “To me that’s the important thing.”
The Roscher couple said the condition of the grave was in no way fitting for someone who served in battle.
“I came up and looked and saw the grave,” Dennis said. “I made a promise that the man would have a flag. He would have a flag.”
Dennis and Sharon said they didn’t know the solider, but did learn about him from his headstone, which bears the name of Israel Jones, company F, 47th US colored infantry. The former soldier appeared to be an Army Civil War veteran.
“It’s sad. It’s very, very sad,” Dennis said. “No cemetery should be left like this is but for a veteran it’s even worse. He’s a brother.”
Meanwhile Sharon applauds her husband’s compassion for a fellow soldier, he stumbled on by chance.
“I got a pretty good husband,” Sharon said. “I’m pretty proud of him. I’m especially proud of him for coming out here and remembering a veteran that nobody else does.”
Fox 4 called a number Monday that offered more information about the tiny cemetery, which connects to the Wyandotte county museum. No one answered, likely because it was a holiday.
