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World War II veteran finally receives headstone

Richmond Register - 10/5/2021

Oct. 4—Ed Jenkins's descendants gathered inside the Maple Grove Cemetery on Monday morning to watch as his grave finally received a headstone after 37 years.

Ed Jenkins was the third child of 14 children who lived on a family farm in White Station. Eleven of those children were girls. With so few boys in the family, the three brothers grew very close. Dean Jenkins was 24 years younger than his brother Ed Jenkins, but he said they were still close.

"He was just a really good guy," Dean Jenkins said of his brother.

Ed Jenkins served in World War II and passed away in 1984. He was buried in Maple Grove Cemetery with his parents, but never received a proper headstone.

Ed's brother Dean Jenkins has worked to acquire a grave marker for the past five years. Dean said he went through all the "military men" channels, but they kept sending him to different people, and the headstone never came to be.

Then, one fateful day, Dean Jenkins was driving up the hill past Maple Grove Cemetery, where Ed Jenkins is buried, and saw the people of Flags for Veterans Madison County placing flags inside of the cemetery.

On a whim, Dean Jenkins decided to stop and visit with the Flags for Veterans Madison County members. He mentioned his struggle of getting his brother a gravestone, and the people of Flags for Veterans Madison County decided they would be able to help.

Dean Jenkins said it was only a few weeks later when he received the good news, his older brother would finally have a headstone fit for a World War II veteran.

Monday morning, the family of Ed Jenkins — his brother as well as grandchildren and great-grandchildren — gathered to watch the placement of Ed Jenkins' headstone.

For the Jenkins family, the marble stone, freshly etched and beautiful, marked the final resting place of a much-beloved man.

As the family congregated near the newly placed headstone and shared stories and caught up with one another, it was almost as if Ed Jenkins was there — smiling down upon the family he had brought together once more.

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(c)2021 the Richmond Register (Richmond, Ky.)

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