The War on the Cross
As the guns fell silent after World War I in 1918, 49 families in Prince George’s County, Maryland, grieved the loss of their sons. But visiting their sons’ graves was difficult because they rested in cemeteries overseas.
In 1925 the American Legion and the Gold Star families commemorated their loved ones by dedicating a 40-foot memorial in Bladensburg, Maryland. The memorial was in the shape of a cross, with the American Legion’s star emblem in the center and the words “Valor,” “Endurance,” “Courage,” and “Devotion” on the four sides of the base.
The servicemen’s names are emblazoned on the cross. Most were farmers and laborers in their teens or twenties; one was a college chemistry instructor; and another was a well-known surgeon. The oldest (age 51) was Gunner Henry L. Hulbert, who served over 20 years in the Marine Corps, and had been awarded the Medal of Honor for his service in Samoa. In the summer of 1918, as General John J. Pe-rshing arrived at an American encampment on the Marne River to bestow medals for heroism, he asked why Hulbert appeared before him soaking wet. Hulbert answered that he had been on the other side of the river and, not wanting to be late for the general, swam across.
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