Here’s a story from the Akron, Ohio, Beacon Journal, that missed our purview last week during Veteran’s Day. The Ellet Grace Brethren Church in Akron, Ohio (Jonathan Carey, pastor) was the host to an unusual Veterans Day program — a flag adoption program to raise funds to restore a Civil War-era flag. John Gurnish, a member of the Ellet church and a Civil War re-enactor, is quoted in the story. A portion appears below. To read the complete story, click here.

Civil War group fights for flag preservation

Members of the 29th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Co. G. Living History Association led by Captain Richard Frye (right) of Akron, salute the American flag during the Veterans Day flag adoption ceremony at Ellet Grace Brethren Church on Monday in Akron, Ohio. The ceremony kicked off a campaign with the to raise $15,000 need to restore a Civil War-era regiment flag carried by the 29th Ohio being restored by the Ohio Historical Society. (Paul Tople/Akron Beacon Journal)

Clad in blue or gray wool coats adorned with yellow military patches and golden buttons, Civil War re-enactors marched between the aisles of Ellet Grace Brethren Church in Akron.

The group, the 29th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Living History Association, ushered a 6-by-6 foot regimental flag as part of the Veterans Day Memorial celebration Monday.

On the regimental flag, an eagle clutching arrows and olive branches marked the standard template for each of the nearly 200 Ohio regiments that fought in the Civil War. The 29th Ohio Voluntary Infantry flag represents 1,532 Ohioans from Summit, Lake, Trumbull, Ashtabula and Geauga counties who served in the war. …

Historian John Gurnish said soldiers’ diaries often make reference to these flags, which “are the only broad evidence of the 325,000 Ohioans who fought.”

The flag’s restoration will require about $15,000.