Theodore Penland was the last commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, a veterans organization for Union soldiers of the Civil War. His great grandson, Richard Penland, will help re-dedicate a memorial to the group. ()
Memorial Day means a little more to Richard Penland this year.
Penland will follow in the footsteps of his great grandfather when he helps re-dedicate a memorial May 30 to members of the Grand Army of the Republic — a veterans organization for Union soldiers of the Civil War — at a cemetery in Portland, Ore.
Theodore Penland was commander-in-chief of the group when he died at the age of 101 in 1950. About 3½ years before that, he had helped dedicate the same memorial that his great-grandson will re-dedicate.
"He was quite a remarkable guy," Richard Penland said in a phone interview Thursday. "He had 10 children and outlived six of them and he outlived three wives."
Theodore Penland died a few years before his great-grandson was born. Richard Penland ended a 24-year career in active duty or reserve capacity with the Marines, Army and Air Force in 2003. He’s worked in civil service since then and is currently ending a job with the 509th Signal Battalion in Vicenza, Italy. He’ll soon start a job at the Pentagon as a strategic planner for the Army’s intelligence branch.
Theodore Penland served in the 152nd Indiana Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. His father, John, served in the 57th Indiana Infantry Regiment until he was wounded in a battle in Tennessee. He died of infection not long afterward.
The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War is sponsoring the effort to re-dedicate the memorial, located in a cemetery dedicated to Civil War veterans. Richard Penland said there are several such cemeteries on the West Coast — far away from the largest battles of the Civil War.
"After the civil war, many [survivors] migrated west," Richard Penland said.
A bronze statue on the memorial was stolen some years after its dedication. The state of Oregon eventually agreed to pay for a replacement and Penland will be on hand when it’s unveiled.
"They asked and I said that would be one of the greatest things in my life," he said.
Moving from Vicenza back to the States has complicated his life recently, he said. "But there was no way I was going to miss this."
