To continue with catching up over the past year, the 62nd PA Volunteer Infantry Living History Family acted as hosts again for the Armstrong County Historical Museum & Genealogical Society’s Christmas Open House on Sunday, December 1, 2024. The museum and log cabin were beautifully decorated and full of festive cheer as the members of the company interacted with guests, served refreshments and shared stories of the soldiers and families of the 62nd PVI and how they celebrated Christmas both on the front lines and at home during the Civil War. It was a wonderful day of family and fellowship!
The 62nd PVI LHF traveled to Gettysburg last November for the annual Remembrance Day ceremony at the 62nd PVI monument in the Wheatfield, the Remembrance Day Parade and Honor Guard Duty at the Illumination in the Soldiers National Cemetery. This year was as solemn and moving as always, with new recruits and familiar faces joining our ranks to honor the soldiers of the 62nd PVI. The ceremony in the Wheatfield in the morning was well attended by our company, the ladies and children, and many friends of the 62nd PVI LHF. Stories were shared, soldiers and comrades in arms that fought next to the 62nd PVI were remembered, and honor was given to the soldiers through the laying of the wheat sheaf with its black ribbon and American flag at the monument and finally with the playing of Taps.
Quickly after the ceremony, it was time to find our place in line for the Remembrance Day Parade. It was a beautiful day for a parade, and the streets were lined with many people who had come to ‘remember’. A good meal and fellowship at Friendly’s followed the parade, with a little downtime before nightfall and our duty as Honor Guard for the Illumination was to begin.
Our members of the Honor Guard, including a very young recruit, stood guard for a full 45 minutes of solemn reflection and honor over the graves of all the fallen in the cemetery. After our post as Honor Guard was concluded, our good Sergeant Rob Skeel led the Honor Guard on a special march to the graves of the soldiers from the 62nd PVI buried in the Soldiers National Cemetery to have a moment of silence in honor, respect, and remembrance of the ‘boys’ of the 62nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. And so concluded another very memorable and meaningful Remembrance Day in Gettysburg.
Written by Katie Wolfe, Co-Vice President, 62nd PVI LHF. Pictures contributed by Katie Wolfe, Danielle Troup, Cindy McShane, David Lentz and the Zimmerman family.
Katie Wolfe, Co Vice-President of the 62nd PVI LHF here. Apologies for the long overdue update on posts, but as the 62nd PVI LHF looks ahead to our 2025 season, we have much to be thankful for in looking back over our 2024 season! To start catching up, this past October we returned to one of our favorite living history encampment sites at the Heritage Center in Gettysburg, PA for a weekend of educating the public about the 62nd PVI, its soldiers and their families, the battles they fought in, their camp life and more. As you can see from the pictures, we had a fantastic weekend of great weather, many interested guests and great fellowship with one another!
CoD62ndPVI 