 You might not have, but at least 10
people remembered the Maine on Tuesday.It was 107 years ago, Feb.
15, 1898, when the battleship USS Maine blew up
and sank in Havana, Cuba, killing 260 sailors.
The newly
reconstituted Nelson A. Miles Camp No. 610, Sons
of Spanish-American War Veterans, marked the
anniversary with a simple service at the
Spanish-American War memorial in Walnut Hill
Cemetery in Belleville.
Six camp members,
a couple of spouses, me and a photographer
listened as Gene Beals of Collinsville, president
of the group, read some of the first-hand
accounts from survivors of the sinking ship.
He added that the
ship's baseball team, led by a black pitcher, had
won the Navy championships in December 1897. All
but one member, including the bugler who had just
sounded Taps, was killed in the explosion.
Ironically, the
Maine was in the harbor on a peacekeeping
mission, to protect Americans in Cuba during one
of the frequent Cuban rebellions against the
Spanish authorities.
The hysteria as
Americans blamed Spain for the sinking helped fan
the flames that led to the war.The initial
determination was that the ship had hit a
floating mine. But that explanation was later
abandoned. No one is sure exactly what happened.
 The Sons of Spanish-American War
Veterans also includes relatives of men who
fought in the Philippines Insurrection when
Philippine rebels objected to being controlled by
Americans instead of the Spanish, and the China
Relief Expedition, covering the years from
1898-1902.
The Nelson Miles
Camp has a chapter flag that was made sometime in
the 1920s but it is from another chapter. Beals
said the organization's national secretary sent
him a box of stuff that included an American flag
and the chapter flag from the Old Glory Camp No.
33.
The camp's
upcoming events include annual Muster Day on
April 21 and Memorial Day on May 29.
On May 21 the camp
will dedicate a monument to Spanish-American war
veterans at 11 a.m. at the Collinsville City
Hall.
Beals said the
chapter has 11 members, but he would like to see
it have 20.
Membership is open
to male descendants of Spanish-American War
veterans and those who fought in the other
conflicts during the years 1898-1902.
Wally
Spiers' column runs six days a week. Have a
column idea? Call Wally at 239-2506
or (800) 642-3878; or e-mail: wspiers@bnd.com
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