Confederate soldiers buried on Arsenal Island will be honored on Memorial Day. Every year after the National Cemetery ceremony, the Sons of Confederate Veterans hold a service at the smaller Confederate cemetery located just down the road.
Sherman Lundy is a member of the Iowa Division of the Confederate Sons group. He says in the 1950s, Congress passed a law that says both Union and Confederate soldiers are considered members of the US armed forces.
Nearly 2,000 Confederate soldiers are buried on Arsenal Island. The prisoners of war were held at a camp near where the PX is currently located. Lundy says the camps on both sides were hell-holes where disease was rampant, and the food was bad or nonexistent.
Another member of Iowa's Sons of Confederate Veterans, Charles Lott, will speak at Monday's ceremony. Civil War reenactors will also participate, and the service will feature rifle and cannon salutes.
