Fort Jennings is diving into history all while paying tribute to the men and women who have served our country. The Fort Fest has been honoring Veterans all weekend.
Stepping into the Fort Fest is like taking a trip back in time. The weekend-long festival featured military memorabilia, artifacts, and machinery--even from as far back as the War of 1812.
On Saturday, they paid tribute to the 12 Unknown Soldiers that died at Fort Jennings from the War of 1812, and were buried on the site. Organizers of the event say the fort is the perfect place to have an event like this as they have close ties to veteran history.
Wesley Klir, a committee member for the Fort Fest says, “The War of 1812 is really the nidus of this whole event. Without that, we don’t have the provenance to be able to do it. There’s other places that do military tribute weekends, but we have the unique position to say we were part of the military here many many years ago, and the evidence is still on Fort Jennings soil today.”
The Unknown Soldier ceremony also honored any fallen soldier whose name got lost in history. A crowd of veterans, war re-enactors, and others taking part in honoring the Unknown Soldier stood in formation surrounding the monument that marks the gravesite of the 12 soldiers. They participated in some traditional elements of a military ceremony and even got the kids involved.
Randy Gasser, the Post Commander at American Legion Post #715 says, “You have taps, you have the 21-gun salute, you have the raising and lowering of the flag, the flag at half staff, the moment of silence, it all goes in with what they do overseas too. You hear about it in the State’s side, Memorial Day does events like this. When someone dies overseas, you do hear TAPS, you do hear the moment of silence, and so it brings memories back for a lot of people that’s here today."
The Fort Fest will continue on Sunday with events starting at 8:45 in the morning. For more information, you can head to fjfortfest.com.
