Davenport, Iowa - Next month, Oakdale Memorial Gardens will host a ceremony in remembranceof Congressional Medal of Honor recipient John Vale. This event is endorsed by the Iowa Civil WarSesquicentennial Committee. John Vale earned his Medal in a skirmish that took place on February 15, 1863.
Vale was born in London, England, and emigrated to Le Claire, Iowa as a young man.He later moved to Minnesota, where he enlisted in Company H of the 2nd MinnesotaVolunteer Infantry. On the fateful day of February 15, 1863, he was one of adetachment of sixteen men who defended a Union supply convoy against a ConfederateCalvary unit 125 strong. After the war, he settled in Davenport, where he worked in thePost Office for many years. In 1897, he was one of eight other men from that group ofsixteen who were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
A ceremony to honor Mr. Vale will be held at his gravesite in Oakdale MemorialGardens, 2501 Eastern Avenue, Davenport, on Saturday, February 16, 2013 at 2:00 pm.The ceremony will include a reading of the official Medal of Honor citation as well asthe report of the skirmish by Brigadier General James Steedman, a wreath-laying byCompany "A" 49th Regiment Veteran Volunteer Infantry / SVR Honor Guard for theSons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and military honors.
Oakdale Memorial Gardens, an independent non-profit cemetery, was established in 1856 with burials beginning in 1857. Located on Eastern Avenue in the heart of Davenport, Oakdale Memorial Gardens is one ofthe Quad Cities' oldest and most beautiful cemeteries, boasting century-old oaks, gentle rolling hills and knolls,and a beautiful reflecting pond near the cemetery entrance. Known as a rural or Victorian cemetery (thoughburials still take place today), it is the final resting place for many historic Quad Cities figures, including Leon"Bix" Beiderbecke, Mary Putnam (of the Putnam Museum), members of the Palmer family (the founders ofchiropractic and Palmer College of Chiropractic) and over 288 veterans of the Civil War.
