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Mike
Moser
"I Say"
Published June 4, 2004 |
The memory of Milo Lemert is
alive and well today
Someone asked me not long ago what I considered to be the
proudest accomplishment in my journalism career. Being a journalist
affords one opportunities others might not have.
Being responsible for changing policy in the federal food
stamp program ranks high. So does going to the Iranian Embassy
in Washington, D.C. during the Iranian hostage crisis.
Having a banquet meal with Margaret Hamilton, known as Cora
or as the Wicked Witch of the West in Wizard of Oz, talking to
author Alex Haley, having lunch and spending a day with Robert
F. Kennedy Jr., meeting and talking with legendary Alabama football
coach Paul "Bear" Bryant all rank as memorable.
If my career were to end today, however, the proudest accomplishment
to me is discovering who was this guy called Milo Lemert and
then sharing this gentle man with the rest of Cumberland County
so that his memory can truly belong to the ages.
The more I read and learned about Milo Lemert, the more I
was convinced that this man should be one about whom all the
school children in Cumberland County are taught. He should be
the hero of heroes.
Oddly enough, as late as 1986 very few people in Crossville
had ever heard of Milo Lemert. I had never heard of him until
I visited the Cumberland County Playhouse to see Tennessee, USA!
During the production I spotted someone walking across the stage
carrying a placard that simply read, "Milo Lemert, Congressional
Medal of Honor."
Thanks to the late Paul Crabtree because his historical footnote
in that popular play ignited a spark.
I started asking around and no one seemed to know who Milo
Lemert was or what he had done to earn the nation's highest honor
for military bravery. A short story was published and I did receive
a couple of phone calls
The late Lewis Bohannon directed me to Lemert's grave in City
Cemetery and to my shock and disappointment, the white stone,
weathered marker made no mention of the Medal of Honor. The headstone
simply read, "Milo Lemert, 1st Sergeant, Company G, 119th
Infantry, 30th Division, Born Albion, Iowa March 25, 1890, Killed
in France September 29, 1918 in the Battle of Bellicourt."
Phone calls were made. Congressman Jim Cooper, who at that
time represented Cumberland County in Washington, was contacted.
Mickey Eldridge and Juliene Barnwell of Cooper's Crossville field
office went to work as did Frank Bohannon and later American
Legion Post 163.
L.T. Thurman Jr. assisted us which was important because L.T.'s
father, Litton, was with Milo when Milo was killed, was himself
wounded, and later was awarded the nation's second highest honor,
The Distinguished Service Cross.
Today the proper marker at Milo's grave is in place, along
with a lighted flag pole and a granite slab bearing Lemert's
citation.
Years ago the state of Tennessee named a bridge over the Tennessee
River near Savannah, TN, in honor of Milo Lemert. An American
Legion Post in Maryland named its post the Sgt. Milo Lemert Post.
Yet nothing commemorated the memory of this heroic American.
Today old post office building on Main St. and a section of
the bypass are named in his honor. Cumberland Countians now have
read of Milo's heroics. And now many know who Milo Lemert was
and what he did.
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Mike Moser is the editor of the Crossville Chronicle. His
column is published periodically on Fridays.
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