Milwaukee, WI – This Veterans Day, the Descendant Community of the Milwaukee County Grounds Cemeteries, Inc., highlights ongoing delays in honoring Milwaukee County veterans, stemming from administrative obstacles and legal interference.
The Descendant Community notes that the delay is caused by the County’s failure to process applications and by actions of the Milwaukee County Office of the Corporation Counsel. These delays prevent veterans from receiving the recognition they earned and their descendants from achieving closure.
“The County has the ability to submit these applications to the Veterans Administration, but delays in doing so are denying veterans the recognition they deserve,” said Judy Houston, president of the Descendant Community. “Every day these memorials remain unprocessed is another day veterans and their descendants are left without the honor they earned.”
These delays have been compounded by misstatements regarding cemetery preservation rules, mischaracterization of lawful proposals, and obstructive actions from the Milwaukee County Corporation Counsel’s office. The Descendant Community emphasizes that installation of respectful memorial markers is fully compatible with state and County regulations.
The Descendant Community urges Milwaukee County officials to submit pending applications and move forward with the installation of all approved markers without further obstruction. “Each veteran deserves to be remembered with dignity,” said Houston. “Honoring their service is a matter of respect, remembrance, and justice.”
The Descendant Community of Milwaukee County Grounds Cemeteries, Inc. is dedicated to preserving the memory and dignity of those buried in the Milwaukee County Grounds Cemeteries. The community advocates for the respectful reburial of remains and works to ensure proper recognition of the historical and cultural significance of the cemeteries.
This Veterans Day, Milwaukee County honors the memory of its veterans, but for some, recognition remains stalled. In 2023, Milwaukee County installed five markers to honor veterans of the Civil and Spanish-American Wars, thanks to research by the Descendant Community. Another marker arrived late, and so was not ready for the 2023 Veterans Day memorial service; it has remained in storage. Additional research has identified three more veterans eligible for US Veterans Administration markers. These applications have been waiting for County officials’ signatures for more than a year, and legal guidance from the Milwaukee County Office of the Corporation Counsel has created obstacles that may prevent their approval entirely.
Read more about our work honoring veterans, and visit our virtual memorials to learn more about these and other veterans we have identified as being buried at Milwaukee County Grounds cemeteries:
The Descendant Community continues to have hope that the County will have a change of heart. We have identified descendants of the veterans awaiting markers and put one in contact with the County; we have not reached out to descendants of the other veterans, however, because we do not know how to formally recognize the veterans’ service given the County’s stance.
Background
A member of C.K. Pier Badger Camp #1, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, present a US flag to descendants of a Civil War veteran at the Veterans Day memorial service in 2023.
This past summer, the Corporation Counsel applied to elevate its own priority on the Register of Interested Persons from landowner to cultural interest, potentially undermining the Descendant Community’s legally recognized role in decisions regarding human remains. The sources cited to support this application are completely irrelevant, demonstrating either a misunderstanding of their own citations or disregard for the law’s purpose. This follows their repeated statements that the Descendant Community itself does not meet the definition for cultural interest.
Accusation of Illegal Grave Disturbing
Last month, the Corporation Counsel accused the Descendant Community of illegally disturbing Cemetery 3, claiming use of pitchforks and unlawful disturbance of graves. The August 2025 flooding unearthed gravestones, and our suggestion of using pitchforks to identify additional gravestones was purely hypothetical and contingent on Parks’ approval; no such action occurred. Placing of US and Wisconsin flags at markers (including those for veterans) and stone resetting complied with state preservation guidance regarding cemetery cleanup. The Corporation Counsel’s unfounded accusations distract from memorialization efforts and cast doubt on the Community’s lawful work.
A gravestone unearthed by the August 2025 flooding.Gravestone cleaned and marked with a US flag.
It bears repeating that the Corporation Counsel’s letter treats a purely hypothetical suggestion—using pitchforks to probe the ground for hidden gravestones—as if it had actually taken place, portraying lawful, conditional planning as misconduct punishable by law. It is unclear how the Corporation Counsel so grossly misread our letter. This misrepresentation exemplifies the broader pattern of misconstruing the Descendant Community’s lawful preservation efforts, calling into question the reliability of the Corporation Counsel’s guidance.
Court Actions
Two ongoing legal cases initiated by the Corporation Counsel continue to threaten the approved reburial plan. While the Descendant Community is not a direct party, these actions put veterans’ recognition at risk and create unnecessary delays, driving up costs without advancing historical or public interests.
Future veterans markers could be installed at Forest Home Cemetery near the 831 Ancestors that are planned to be reinterred there. This is not currently feasible due to the drawn out legal appeals.
The Corporation Counsel has tried to use these issues as leverage to negotiate the reburial plan, but we have no authority whatsoever to amend the approved plan. Their appeals have been rejected at every stage, and it is unclear what outcome they expect—except for a delay to cause the plans to become unfeasible due to changing circumstances.
Misstated Legal Guidance
By substituting a subjective interpretation for legal analysis, and failing to read the second item in a four-item list, the Corporation Counsel has effectively paralyzed efforts to honor veterans who served this country. The County’s duty to preserve the burial sites is not in conflict with its moral and civic obligation to recognize those buried there. Additionally, conservation requirements enacted by the County do not in fact prohibit installation of memorial markers, as the Corporation Counsel claims.
Definition of Disturbance
In April 2024, the Corporation Counsel issued a letter claiming that Milwaukee County’s only responsibility regarding veterans buried at the County Grounds is to receive “proper and decent care”, and to avoid “disturbing” the graves. The letter further argued that terms such as desecrate and disturb are subjective, warning that what one group considers respect might be viewed as desecration by another, even suggesting that “placing a grave marker for a veteran over the final resting place of a committed pacifist would be considered desecration by many”. While one might prefer that markers be placed at the correct gravesites, it was the County that lost the cemetery maps, making such precision impossible; in any case, the grave might have been destroyed or disinterred by previous construction projects. Cenotaphs (monuments honoring those whose graves are elsewhere or unknown) have existed since Ancient Greece. The Corporation Counsel’s example, therefore, misses the point entirely.
A memorial marker for a Civil War veteran installed by the County, which the Office of the County Corporation Counsel would now seem to believe was a desceration and a violation of conservation restrictions on the County Grounds.
The Corporation Counsel’s reasoning is both irrelevant and absurd. Their suggestion that honoring veterans might constitute desecration bears no relationship to the County’s actual obligations under state law. The statutes do not forbid respectful commemoration; they prohibit physical disturbance of burial sites and human remains. The letter’s attempt to blur that distinction misstates the law and undermines the purpose of both the Burial Sites Preservation statute and Wisconsin’s long tradition of veteran memorialization.
Indeed, Wisconsin law places a positive obligation on counties to apply for VA markers for veterans who died while living in the county. This obligation exists regardless of who owns the cemetery. While an argument could be made that this does not apply to historical burials, the most natural reading of the Corporation Counsel’s argument would be that this obligation does not exist at all.
If placing cenotaphs for US veterans—or placing US and Wisconsin flags at gravestones—is to be considered desecration, what then should be said of the County’s own history of bulldozing graves for buildings and paving roads over others?
County Grounds Conservation Restrictions
The same letter also misrepresents the County Board’s 2020 conservation restrictions, asserting that they prohibit “any structures other than mowed areas, parking lots, benches, and picnic tables”. In fact, the restrictions explicitly allow “interpretive signs, kiosks, observation platforms, and boardwalks”, among two other sets of exemptions.
The 2023 installation of five markers—arranged by the County and facilitated by County funding—demonstrates that such memorials are fully compatible with both the restrictions and the law. It is difficult to say how the Corporation Counsel’s summary of the conservation restrictions came to be so incomplete, but it appears to be part of a pattern. One can only hope that greater care is exercised in their other official duties.
Conclusion
C.K. Pier Badger Camp #1, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, members fire rifles in salute at the Veterans Day memorial service in 2023.
This Veterans Day, we are reminded not of new installations, but of the veterans still waiting for recognition. The Descendant Community continues its work to honor those who served, while bureaucratic misguidance might leave some veterans unacknowledged for generations and keeps their living descendants in the dark, with no clear path forward. Proper memorials are not just a matter of law, but of justice, dignity, and respect.
Each veteran deserves to be remembered with dignity. Researching burial records and ordering pension files for marker applications requires both time and resources. Contributions to the Descendant Community help continue this work even when official support has stalled.
On August 9–10, 2025, severe flash flooding impacted southeastern Wisconsin, including Wauwatosa and the Milwaukee County Grounds. Cemetery 3, in particular, was inundated by several feet of sewage-contaminated floodwater for approximately 24 hours.
Cemetery 3 on August 10, 6am.Detail of August 10, 6am, photo.August 11, 4pm. (Descendant Community)
The flooding caused slumping throughout the cemetery, where the collapse of weakened coffins disturbed the ground. Most graves at Cemetery 3 are unmarked, but in some locations the flooding revealed a few headstones that had been obscured over time.
Slumping visible on September 20. (Descendant Community)Hidden gravestone for Loibl. (Descendant Community)Gravestone for Max Loibl, 1876-1939. (Descendant Community)
Even a single severe storm can alter the landscape, disturb burials, and expose what has long rested beneath the surface, demonstrating the cemetery’s physical vulnerability to future extreme weather. In keeping with our mission to honor and preserve the dignity of those interred at the Milwaukee County Grounds Cemeteries, the Descendant Community is documenting these physical impacts. Understanding how the flooding affected both the landscape and the historic gravesites is essential for guiding restoration, protection, and long-term stewardship efforts.
Cemetery 3 is located near the Menomonee River and Underwood Creek, as well as sewerage and floodwater management facilities operated by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) and Milwaukee County. Members of the Descendant Community met with MMSD representatives to understand how the flooding occurred. While MMSD began studying the potential impacts of 1000-year flood events in 2023, its infrastructure remains designed for 100-year floods. During the August 2025 event, sewerage facilities related to the Menomonee River watershed were overwhelmed, resulting in sewage flow onto Cemetery 3 and into the Menomonee River.
Estimated precipitation in Southwest Wisconsin. (National Weather Service)The Menomonee River approximately 3,000 ft (900m) downstream of Cemetery 3, about 14 hours after the river crested. (The ed17, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
According to the National Weather Service, multiple rounds of extremely heavy rain fell across eastern Waukesha County and northern and western Milwaukee County between the evening of August 9th and early morning of August 10th. Between 10–13 inches (25–33 cm) of rain fell within several hours, causing significant flash flooding across Wauwatosa, West Allis, Menomonee Falls, Elm Grove, and New Berlin. The Milwaukee, Fox, Menomonee, and Root Rivers all rose to flood stage, with record levels observed along the Milwaukee River.
Explanation of the Flooding
Floodwater flow. (Descendant Community and OpenStreetMap)Location of the MMSD facility on the Menomonee River (Descendant Community and OpenStreetMap)
During the event, MMSD experienced a sewage overflow at its Menomonee River facility on the County Grounds. Water entered the Northwest Side Relief Sewer (NWSRS) system from the north and moved southward, following the natural grade toward Cemetery 3. Similar to the Deep Tunnel system, this system is designed to temporarily store stormwater until it can be safely treated. It was, however, constructed to withstand a 100-year flood—not the extraordinary 1000-year event that occurred.
The pressure within the system was so extreme that it displaced two sewer grates, each weighing approxing 28 tons, causing uncontrolled surface flow toward low-lying areas, including the cemetery and the Menomonee River.
Video of the sewerage overflow.Satellite view of the MMSD facility.MMSD facility.Detail of upended concrete at MMSD facility.Gate to the MMSD facility.Detail of garbage on the gate to the MMSD facility.
Other Nearby Water Management Facilities
Map of major water-flow management facilities on the County Grounds that were not involved in the sewage overflow. (Descendant Community and OpenStreetMap)
To the west of Cemetery 3, large basins help divert excess flow from Underwood Creek to reduce the strain on the Menomonee River. The Underwood Creek watershed experienced a 100-year flood event and these basins performed within design parameters during the event, filling to roughly 50 percent of capacity. The water quality basin to the east of Cemetery 3 also functioned as expected, improving water quality before release.
Next Steps and How You Can Help
Gravestone of Anthony Kushakowsky, 1884-1945. (Descendant Community)
Portions of Cemetery 3 are within the official FEMA-designated floodplain. While flood maps are being updated to account for MMSD’s projects in the Menomonee River watershed, MMSD prioritizes buildings in its flood-management plans, and its projects do not materially impact Cemetery 3.
The Descendant Community continues to work with Milwaukee County and MMSD to advocate for infrastructure improvements that balance public health, historic preservation, and protection of these vulnerable sites. Preserving the resting place of those buried at the County Grounds is central to our mission. As climate variability increases the likelihood of extreme weather, this work has never been more urgent.
You can play a vital role in these efforts. Whether through volunteering, donating, or helping share our mission, your support allows us to document burials, maintain and restore affected areas, and protect the dignity of those interred. Volunteers assist with research, cemetery care, and community outreach, and training is provided to ensure meaningful participation. Donations help fund genealogical research and ongoing preservation work, tools essential to honoring lives that were once marginalized and largely unmarked. Contact us to learn more.
