Civil War veteran interred
By Josh Kristianto
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PLATTSMOUTH, Nebraska (KETV) — A Civil War veteran is finally finding his resting place in Plattsmouth over a hundred years after his death.
On Saturday, veterans, active service members and the community all came out to pay their respects.
Benton Kinkead was intent on fighting for the Union in 1861. The 16-year-old enlisted in the 77th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry’s D Company after lying he was two years older. Kinkead ended up in General Sherman’s Army of the Tennessee, where he battled confederates at Shiloh and Fallen Timbers and helped capture Little Rock in Arkansas.
“This guy was a Union soldier, a private, one of the lowest paid persons, but did his job,” said Charles Jones, a manager at VFW Post 2543.
After getting wounded and leaving the army, Kinkead eventually found himself in Plattsmouth with his wife and three children. He works as a painter with his younger brother before moving to Seattle, where he ultimately died of pneumonia in 1916 at 71.
Kinkead was cremated, but somehow, his remains went unclaimed, sitting in storage until 2020 when they were discovered by the Missing in America Project in Washington state.
“You know, as a military veteran, we don’t leave anyone behind. It’s a standard thing,” said Jones.
Veterans in Plattsmouth gathered together to honor Kinkead on Saturday. VFW Post 2543 displayed his cremains in their Hall of Honor. Outside, riders prepared to escort Kinkead to Oakhill Cemetery. And the community came out to honor him as well.
“I believe that anyone who honorably served this country should be honored, whether it’s at the time of their death or years later,” said Marykay Wolf, an Omaha resident.
Kinkead is now interred next to his wife at Oakhill, with the full honors of a community he once was part of, coming home at last.
“It’s probably going to be the last Civil War vet we bury in our cemetery, we think, but we don’t know for sure,” said Jones.
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