To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War, local Boy Scout Shane Douglas is working on a fitting way to honor local veterans of the battle of brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, to earn his Eagle Scout rank.

The Waterloo High School sophomore is working with the city of Waterloo and its three main cemeteries to place memorial markers at the graves of each known Civil War veteran in Waterloo.

“A lot of people don’t take into account that the Civil War happened here,” Douglas said. “It’s kind of a neat way to recognize them.”

Douglas, a self-proclaimed history enthusiast and member of Boy Scout Troop 323 , approached Waterloo Mayor Tom Smith last year about putting together a project that would allow him to combine his two interests of history and scouting. This was one of the ideas he came up with.

The goal is to have all 99 Waterloo graves marked with bronze markers by April 9, the 150th anniversary of General Robert E. Lee’s surrender to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia.

Thirty-two veterans are buried at Ss. Peter & Paul Cemetery, 66 at Kolmer Cemetery and one at St. John United Church of Christ Cemetery. Of these 99, 20 do not currently have any type of headstone.

“This project will give those 20 veterans some type of recognition and a marker of their gravesite that will be there for years to come,” said Shane’s father, Waterloo Assistant Chief of Police Mike Douglas.
Smith agreed.

“That’s really why I think it’s so important to do this,” he said.

Each marker will be made to last, cast of bronze and include the veteran’s name, rank if known and dates of service. The cost is about $60 per marker, and already a handful of local businesses have chipped in to help cover the costs associated with them — as well as a rod for each that will be in cement then buried to give the marker stability and visibility.

Ss. Peter & Paul Church, the city of Waterloo and Walmart are among the donors so far, but the total raised is far short of the nearly $6,000 needed. Smith is hoping other businesses and individuals in the community or with ties to Monroe County will step forward to help fund the project. The city is handling the intake and disbursement of all donations.

“They can donate to pay for the marker of a specific veteran or just make a general donation,” he said. “This is the kind of thing Waterloo is all about.”

For now, Douglas is working with information compiled by the local historical societies on the veterans, the ranks of which include one Confederate soldier, so when the ground warms and the money is raised he can set about his important task of helping make sure no area veteran goes unacknowledged for service to our country.

To contribute to the project, checks can be sent to or dropped off at Waterloo City Hall, 100 West Fourth Street. Specify the Civil War veteran marker project as the intended recipient and name of the particular veteran whose marker you’d like to fund, if applicable.

A full list of Civil War vets is below.

*Thank you to the Monroe County Genealogical Society for compiling this information. If you have any questions about how to contribute to the placement of a Civil War veteran memorial marker at the gravesite of any of the above veterans, or to make a general donation to the Eagle Scout project of Shane Douglas, call Waterloo City Hall at 939-8600.