For the past 10 years Deborah Spader has headed to Mt. Olivet Cemetery to decorate veterans' graves for Memorial Day.
Among those are the graves of Utahns who fought in the nearly forgotten Spanish-American War that wrested Cuba from Spanish rule and gave the United States control over Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines."It's just very moving for me. I love our veterans for protecting our country the way they have," said Spader, whose husband and father were veterans and who personally is treasurer of the VFW Post 3586 Ladies Auxiliary and is national publicity director.
This year is the 100th anniversary of the United State's triumph over Spain in the brief conflict that lasted from April to August of 1898.
The year before, President McKinley tried to pressure Spain to grant Cuba some level of independence, but Spain resisted and opposing groups in Cuba protested. McKinley sent the battleship Maine to Havana harbor to protect Americans there from riots.
The Maine blew up on Feb. 15, 1989, killing 250 people aboard. Americans blamed Spain for the explosion, although some modern-day historians now wonder if the blast was actually an accident. But at that time "Remember the Maine!" became a rallying cry.
During this era, the American media was not covering itself with glory, either.
Even before the Maine exploded, many "yellow press" papers including those owned by media titans William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer printed inflammatory accounts of Spanish misrule that upset American readers.
That long ago war not only changed governments, but also prompted creation of the national Veterans of Foreign Wars organization.
There were at least 718 Utah men who went off to battle during the Spanish-American War in Cuba and the Philippines.
Included among them was Charles Mabey, a member of the Bountiful volunteers in the Utah Light Artillery who was sent to the Philippines and was decorated with the Silver Star. He later went on to become governor of Utah in 1921.
Daniel Crossley, commander of the VFW Post 3586, said Utah participants included the 24th Infantry at Ft. Douglas, which was a unit of black soldiers with white officers. "They came back to Ft. Douglas with a captured cannon that is still up at the Ft. Douglas museum," he said.
Other participants included other military units of the Utah National Guard: Company K U.S. Volunteers 2nd Regiment Engineers, both Troop A and Troop I regiments of the U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, Battery A and Battery B (light artillery units) and the Wedgewood Recruits from Salt Lake City.
Crossley said many Utahns involved in the conflict went to Colorado and linked up with the Colorado National Guard.
Crossley said about 15-20 Spanish-American war veterans are buried at Mt. Olivet, some at the Ft. Douglas cemetery and some in the city cemetery. The latest statistics from the Department of Veterans Affairs showed that as of Jan. 1, 1982, there were only 76 surviving veterans of that conflict.
"I think I'm probably safe in saying that there aren't any living at this time," said Crossley, who is a Vietnam veteran.
Gov. Mike Leavitt will sign a proclamation commemorating the occasion on Feb. 10.
So why is this so important?
"This is where our heritage and lineage comes from," Crossley said.
There were only two veterans organizations in the country when combatants returned from the Spanish-American War, and these returning fighters were essentially told to form their own organization - which they did, he said.
The early American Veterans of Foreign Service was created in Columbus, Ohio, in 1899 by members of the 17th Infantry Regiment who served in the war. Later, they joined forces with members of the First Colorado National Guard who had begun the American Veterans Society of the Army of the Philippines.