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May They Rest in Peace Renewed
A song written and sung by Dolan Ellis to commemorate the reburial of Union Soldiers
Dolan Ellis participated in a very special event on Saturday, May 16, 2009. The event took place in Sierra Vista, Arizona, at the Southern Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery. A cemetery-within-a-cemetery was established for reburial of 57 Union soldiers, 3 children, and 1 Army civilian.
The remains of the soldiers, children, and the civilian who had died between the 1860s and 1880s, along with more than 1,700 not related to the military, were discovered when roads in downtown Tucson were excavated to make way for a new Pima County and Tucson court complex.
The Southern Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery Foundation worked with many organizations, including the Southeastern Arizona Contractors Association, to achieve this remarkable feat. There were also cash donations of more than $85,000.
Dignitaries present at the ceremony included Arizona Governor Jan Brewer.
Both of these photos were taken with Dolan's camera; he took the second photo himself.
At left, he is pictured with Governor Jan Brewer.
Thanks to Katherine Goode-Marts,
Public Relations Officer, American LegionPost 52 Sierra Vista AZ, for these 6 photos (Kathy is an excellent journalist).
The YouTube link above is to a video of the song (as performed at the Arizona Folklore Preserve on the same day as the ceremonies). Below are the song's lyrics, and an article from the Sierra Vista Herald on May 17 about the song.
Lyrics:
God bless this space
This sacred place
Where we lay these precious few
Once they were lost
But now they're found
May they rest in peace renewed
They came out West
These brave and best
And they served with proud revere
And here they died
In graves they lie
For more than 100 years
So we sing today
For them we pray
As we lay these lost souls down
At last they rest
They end their quest
As they're laid in this hallowed ground
God bless this space
This sacred place
Where we lay these precious few
Once they were lost
But now they're found
May they rest in peace renewed
By Bill Hess
Herald/Review
Published/Last Modified on Sunday, May 17, 2009 - 02:16:05 am MST
SIERRA VISTA — Words from the hymn “Amazing Grace” inspired Arizona’s official balladeer Dolan Ellis to come up with new lyrics to honor the remains of 57 soldiers from the 1860s to 1880s, who died in the then Arizona Territory.
The words that inspired Ellis are: “Once I was lost, but now I am found.”
He said he sought a way to tell of the travails of the remains, which were under roads in Tucson for decades. The remains were exhumed a couple of years ago.
Ellis remarked the melody of the hymn was perfect, as were some of the lyrics. But with new words added, “Amazing Grace” would tell more of the those soldiers’ story from when they were buried, he said.
“Where we lay the precious few, may they rest in peace renewed,” he sang. “They once were lost, but now are found.”
The new words and others he added to some of the original lyrics and melody of “Amazing Grace” were to honor those former cavalrymen, infantrymen, musicians, cooks, farriers and others who served more than a century ago and who finally will have a new resting place, never again to be disturbed or forgotten, Ellis said.
On Saturday, the 57 remains of the soldiers, as well as three children and an Army civilian, were reburied in a cemetery-within-a-cemetery at the state-operated Southern Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery off Buffalo Soldier Trail.
Herald/Review senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.
