At Moran and Goebel it is our wish that veterans and their spouses strongly consider using Camp Butler National Cemetery. Veterans and their eligible dependents are entitled to burial in any National Cemetery, concrete graveliners, perpetual care and an upright or flat grave marker. There are never charges to dig graves at a bona - fide National Cemetery. Camp Butler National Cemetery Has A Rich History. It is conveniently located between Springfield and Decatur. It occupies a portion of what was the second-largest military training camp in Illinois during the Civil War.

Soon after the firing on Fort Sumter in 1861, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for troops to defend the Union. In 1861, the War Department dispatched General William Sherman to Springfield, Ill., to select a site for a military training camp. The men found an ideal location six miles outside of Springfield with a high ground for camping purposes and a lower, more-level area for drills and training, as well as space for a cemetery. General Sherman was pleased with the site and named it Camp Butler to honor his companion.

In 1861 as the war progressed, additional uses were found for the grounds, including a prisoner of war camp. Roughly 700 POWs died in the smallpox epidemic of summer 1862. The cemetery has veterans buried from each of our nation's conflicts from the War Between the States (both Union and Confederate veterans) to the current war in Irag. Camp Butler was the final resting place of many remains returned from overseas following World War II. Camp Butler National Cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

Camp Butler has two notable burials, Seaman John H. Catherwood is a Medal of Honor recipient and is buried in section F, grave 1. Col. Otis B. Duncan, a Springfield native, was the highest ranking African-American officer during World War 1. He is buried in section 3, grave 835.

It is an honor to be buried at a National Cemetery! Please remember this when making your pre-arrangements.