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Fort Ontario invites the community to commemorate Armed Forces Day, May 18, by coming to Fort Ontario State Historic Site on its seasonal opening day and attending a walking tour of the Post Cemetery.
The Post Cemetery presents a cross section of those who served and died at Fort Ontario from the French and Indian War through World War II; it contains the bodies of 77 individuals, including soldiers, officers, wives, children and one soldier's mother.
Fort Ontario Curator Jennifer Emmons will conduct the tour, which will begin at 1 p.m. at the north parking lot overlooking the lake. This year marks the third year that a cemetery tour has been offered to share Emmons' research findings with the community; new research material is incorporated each year.
"Often people try to avoid thinking about their own demise; however, when one loses someone close or experiences community tragedy such as we have seen in the national news recently, and the loss of four local soldiers in Afghanistan last year, it can cause us to contemplate just how long others will remember us after we are gone," Emmons said. "Sadly, as little as 10 years ago, most local people with a few exceptions remembered the 77 people interred in the Post Cemetery. Names and dates could still be read on their headstones, but, from a historical standpoint, that was all the information anybody had as to who they were. Gradually, after nearly eight years of research, the stories behind many of the names on the tombstones have become to emerge."
A donation of $5 per person is suggested which will be used to support Friends of Fort Ontario's programming and restoration efforts. Appropriate footwear and clothing is recommended, air temperatures are generally lower and winds stronger by the lake.
Fort Ontario State Historic Site is located at the north end of East Fourth Street in the city of Oswego. For more information on the May 18program or Fort Ontario contact Jennifer Emmons at Jenny.Emmons@parks.ny.gov.
