The Shaw family headstone features the carving of an interesting rectangular shape nestled on edge. The rough circular shapes at the end of the rectangles resemble mortar, as though filling in a hollow core.
Greenwood Cemetery sits at the northern tip of
Austin Bergstrom International Airport. Whether or not one considers it to be within the airport boundary or not is debatable. There is a public entrance that's open to Highway 183. But the entirety of grounds are surrounded by high chain link fencing with barbed wire. Access to the plots is by a service road with fences on either side. The scene calls to mind the highway access roads that supplied West Berlin during the Cold War.
Airplanes taking off from ABIA fly directly over the cemetery. And I do mean directly over the cemetery. That sounds annoying, but it's not nearly as obnoxious as I expected it to be when I first drove in. Most planes have already gained a bit of altitude by the time they pass overhead. The fact that the cemetery is set back from Highway 183 helps alleviate some traffic noise. It's about peaceful as you can get while being buzzed by jets!
Irene Franklin's marker gives visitors a good idea about an important part of her life. Care to take a guess?
The cemetery obviously predates ABIA's inauguration. In fact, it predates
Bergstrom Air Force Base by decades as well. The earliest headstone I could find dates from 1880 and there are burials that have taken place right up to the present day. It's very much an active burial ground.
One of the things that Greenwood has a number of is interesting headstones that provide great insight into the lives and interests of the people whose graves they adorn. Irene Franklin's marker is in the shape of a upright piano, complete with a Baldwin label on the side!
Ollie Bryant's marker goes into great detail about his life, in particular his heroics in World War II.
Few, if any, markers provide one with a more telling testimony to the life and contribution of the individual at rest than that of Ollie Bryant. After working on a
WPA group during the depression Ollie went on to enlist in the US Army during World War II and serve in North Africa, Italy and Western Europe. During the Battle of Bulge he led his platoon to attack a fortified German position. For his actions during the war he received a purple heart and a bronze star.
One need not visit too many cemeteries before spotting a number of headstones for military veterans. Mostly the conflict during which the individual served is listed along with the unit to which he or she was attached. I sometimes review the date of death for such markers to try and determine whether that individual was a casualty of war or whether there was a happy homecoming for the family. It's imprecise and guesswork at best. Ollie Bryant's marker is one of those few that gives about as clear an indication of the turmoil and triumphs faced by someone in life. For that clarity, and for his service, we should be grateful.