Historic re-enactors receive medals from the State of Louisiana for rescuing hurricane-damaged artifacts at New Orleans Military Museum

SPRINGFIELD - A group of re-enactors who made two extended trips to New Orleans to rescue hurricane-damaged artifacts at a military museum have received the State of Louisiana's highest civilian honor.

 

            The men, who make history come to life as re-enactors at Lincoln's New Salem State Historic Site in Petersburg and Lewis and Clark State Historic Site in Hartford, some of whom also volunteer at the Illinois State Military Museum in Springfield, received the Louisiana Distinctive Civilian Service Medal from Louisiana Adjutant General Major General Bennett C. Landreneau.  The decorations were presented by Assistant Adjutant General for the Illinois Army National Guard, Brigadier General Dennis Celletti during a brief ceremony June 1 at Springfield's Camp Lincoln.  

 

Those receiving the recognition from Louisiana include:

·                    James W. Patton, retired interpreter at Lincoln's New Salem, current volunteer at the Illinois State Military Museum, and member of the New Salem Militia and Camp River Dubois Detachment.

·                    Don Ferricks, member of the New Salem Militia and Camp River Dubois Detachment, and currently an interpreter at Lincoln's New Salem.

·                    Dennis Nichols, member of the New Salem Militia and Camp River Dubois Detachment, and currently a site technician at Lewis and Clark State Historic Site in Hartford, Illinois.

·                    Richard Schachtsiek, retired site manager at Postville Courthouse in Lincoln and Mt. Pulaski Courthouse, a New Salem Militia member, and part-time staff at the Illinois State Military Museum.

·                    Jim Kreiser, Illinois State Military Museum volunteer and retired forensic scientist and firearms expert with the Illinois State Police.

·                    Major Mark Whitlock, director of the Illinois State Military Museum and the organizer of the rescue mission.

·                    Specialist Paul Golladay, an Illinois Army National Guardsman, volunteer at the Illinois State Military Museum and a member of the New Salem Militia and Camp River Dubois Detachment.

 

New Salem Militia members portray citizen soldiers at Lincoln's New Salem State Historic Site near Petersburg, Illinois; some of these same men are also members of the Camp River Dubois Detachment, portraying members of the Corps of Discovery at Lewis and Clark State Historic Site in Hartford, Illinois.  All had experience in identifying and caring for historic military items, skills that were be put to the test during the December 2005 and February 2006 rescue missions to the Jackson Barracks Military Museum in New Orleans.  There, they recovered hundreds of historic weapons and flags that were under 13 feet of water as a result of flooding caused by Hurricane Katrina. 

 

Ferricks and Nichols are employed by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, which paid the men their regular state salary while they were in New Orleans.  All travel, lodging and incidental expenses for team members were paid by the U.S. Government.  "Governor Blagojevich did not hesitate when I asked if we could temporarily assign Don and Dennis to New Orleans to provide this vital assistance," said Agency Director Robert Coomer.

 

            Team members located as much of the museum's collections as possible in the deep muck that had settled in and around the site, including small arms from the 18^th and 19^th centuries and Civil War era cannons.  They retrieved the items, stabilized them, wrapped them in protective coverings, and got them ready for transfer to specialists who  began the long, painstaking conservation and restoration process.  They also took before and after photographs of all recovered artifacts to assist in the museum's property registration process.       

 

Whitlock received a call for assistance from his counterpart in New Orleans, who had heard of the work Illinois had done for the Hall of Flags at Camp Lincoln.  As an active member of the New Salem Militia, which demonstrates early 1800s military life for thousands of Lincoln's New Salem visitors each year, Whitlock knew several of his fellow re-enactors had an interest in preserving military history.  He asked for their help, and they did something you're not supposed to do in the military - they volunteered.