Musician 1^st Class Joseph W. Hoffman of Chillicothe was killed on the USS Oklahoma during the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941.  The United States government’s Prisoner-of-War / Missing-in-Action Accounting Agency recently identified his remains.  The U.S. Navy and Hoffman’s closest living relatives are finalizing plans for the final burial in Southern Ohio during August.  In conjunction with this event, the Chillicothe Restoration Foundation, the Chillicothe Civic Theater, and various veterans’ organizations in Ross County are planning a “Notable Souls Tour” in Grandview Cemetery.

Grandview Cemetery includes the graves of forty service members who died in service to the Nation, from the Civil War through the Vietnam conflict.  Some of these were killed in action, while others died from disease or in training, and their remains were returned to Ross County for burial in Grandview Cemetery.  In some cases, the remains were not returned, but the family placed a memorial marker in Grandview Cemetery.

On the day of the Notable Souls Tour, the graves / memorials to these forty service members (39 men and one woman) will be conspicuously marked and a publication will be available that explains each story.

Additionally, ten of these will have an actor or actress from the Chillicothe Civic Theater interpreting the story.  Some of these will be in First Person, talking from the perspective of the deceased, others will be presented as if the speaker was a family member of the soldier, sailor, or Marine, and some may simply be read as narratives.  These 10 graves / memorials are primarily located in the flat, shady area near the Renick Wall in Grandview Cemetery, making the route an easy walk.  Individuals with limited mobility may drive the route.

The following list includes the graves / memorials that will have interpreters to explain the service member’s story.

Civil War (Both are cenotaphs)

1. Pvt. Ephraim Kirkpatrick, died of wounds at Nashville, TN (Sec.19)
2. Sgt. William McKell, died at Andersonville Prison, GA (Sec.12)

World War I

3. British Capt. Charles Becker, British, died near Cp Sherman (Sec.10)
4. Pvt. Oscar Pickens, died of Spanish Flu in England (Sec.17)
5. Pvt. Elting M. Kern, died of Spanish Flu at Camp Sherman (Sec.10)

World War II

6. Tech. Sgt. Wallace Brooks, killed over Yugoslavia (Sec.20)
7. 1^st Lt. Everett E. Haskell, killed in plane crash in England (Sec.13)
8. Pvt. Betty Nolan, died in car accident near Cp Stewart, GA (Sec.19A)

Korea

9. Pfc. Chester Poe, Jr., killed in action near Soyang River (Sec.12)

Vietnam

10. Lance Cpl. Charles R. Waller, killed in action at Khe Sanh (Sec.21)

ALSO PLANNING TO MEMORIALIZE:

Musician 1^st Class Joseph Hoffman, killed at Pearl Harbor. His remains were recently identified through DNA Analysis. Plans underway for his funeral to be in Greenfield in August.