(This story was composed by Carissa Hebert and members of the Allen Genealogical and Historical Society – Dr. Jon Buck Ford, webmaster, and Wanda Carole Wrinkle Ford, Allen GHS Officer.)
Fund raisers like this weekend’s veterans’ cookoff can benefit past, present and future veterans even if they are not a member of a veterans’ organization. Commander Eric Kuyper of American Legion Post #244 believes all veterans deserve recognition, and in March of this year, he learned a veteran of Allen Parish did not have a grave marker.
Kuyper learned the grave of a veteran, who had landed on Normandy Beach during D-Day at the age of 22, was unmarked, and he immediately offered his assistance to secure a grave marker.
(During World War II (1939-1945), the Battle of Normandy, which lasted from June 1944 to August 1944, resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control. Codenamed Operation Overlord, the battle began on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day, when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning. Prior to D-Day, the Allies conducted a large-scale deception campaign designed to mislead the Germans about the intended invasion target. – https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/d-day)
Laura Hall, research officer for the Allen Genealogical and Historical Society, discovered the grave of Albert Grover Baggett (1923-2008) was unmarked in the LeBlanc Cemetery. She knew it needed a military headstone. She said she had no idea the journey she would embark upon to see a headstone put on Baggett’s grave.
Hall learned Baggett’s roots in Allen Parish ran deep. Four generations of his Baggett forefathers were buried at LeBlanc Cemetery including Civil War veteran Milton Brown Baggett Sr, his great-great grandfather. He was a long-time member of the LeBlanc Pentecostal Church.
Hall said, “Every person I talked to about him said he was a quiet, nice, generous, gentle, caring, honorable, and deserving. He never married, and lived his entire life in LeBlanc.”
She contacted the Department of Veterans Affairs, but because she was not family or an “approved representative,” discussions with them were unfruitful. She then spoke to Commander Kuyper about the grave on March 8.
“Commander Kuyper told me that he was the last person I was going to have to call about this,” said Hall. “And he was right!”
Kuyper said, “A lot of people out there say veterans organizations are outdated. They say veterans can represent themselves with the internet. Baggett had no family member to represent him.” The American Legion was the last legal outlet for Baggett according to rules and regulations regarding veterans’ rights.
“So I’ve got a war hero at a cemetery less than 20 miles from here without a grave marker. That’s not cool,” Kuyper said.
He took over for Hall contacting his state representatives Dewitt Carrier and Heather Cloud to get Baggett’s DD214 discharge papers. He even received assistance from U.S. Representative Mike Johnson’s office to get a copy of the papers.
Two weeks before Memorial Day, the paperwork arrived. Kuyper said he contacted the Veterans Affairs (VA) office, and they sent a form to secure a grave marker.
“It was long and confusing,” Kuyper said. “It was designed for a funeral director to fill out, so Kuyper went to Ardoin’s Funeral Home of Kinder for assistance. He said they were wonderful in helping him. He also learned the grave marker has to be sent to a funeral home and not a residence, so on Thursday they sent the paperwork. On the following Monday, the VA called to report the grave marker had been sent to Kinder in December of 2008. Baggett had died in September of 2008.
“Wow,” Kuyper said. “With the tracking number, they were able to figure how the destination of the marker and who had signed for it. The employee of the funeral home no longer works in this area, but Ardoin’s found the marker. It had sat 11-1/2 years in storage.
Kuyper said they cleaned it up and gave the marker to him. He, Mike Karam and Charles Baggett went to the cemetery to conduct a little ceremony on Tuesday, June 2. Unfortunately Hall could not be there that day, but the men made sure her hard work saw a beautiful ending. They put the marker on the grave and conducted a little graveside ceremony for Baggett, a hero gone but not forgotten.
“We didn’t have to do this,” Kuyper said. “He wasn’t a member of the American Legion, but it was the right thing to do. We did it just because he was a veteran, and it was the right thing to do.”
Kuyper said they encourage people to take a look at the services veterans organizations and the American Legion can provide. “If you are a veteran, please consider joining so we can continue to do things like we did for Mr. Baggett.” He also encouraged the public to support these organizations, because if he could not have secured a grave marker, he would have looked at funds available.
Allen Parish’s genealogy group learned there were issues that complicated previous efforts to locate a headstone for Baggett. However in the end, the group, especially Hall, never gave up a dream to see a marker put on Baggett’s grave.
Baggett’s obituary indicated he died at 85. It stated, “He was a veteran of the United States Army. He served his country in World War II and landed on the beaches of Normandy on D Day 1942. He was a friend to all who knew him and loved his family.”
The genealogy society noted he received the EAMETO (European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations) Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Distinguished Unit Badge, and World War II Victory Medal.
Kuyper thanked everyone who helped. He said, “Albert Baggett was a 22-year-old who landed in Normandy on D-Day, and fought the Nazis in Northern France. It was unsatisfactory to me that he was in an unmarked grave, and it needed to be rectified.”
(Readers can learn more about the society at https://allenghs.com. They can also find the link to Albert Grover Baggett’s Find-a-Grave: findagrave.com/memorial/34077268/albert-grover-baggett. A special thanks to all who participated in this story. It is a job well done.)