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Wall Cemetery, it’s official name if such a thing exists in such a small, forgotten, isolated plot, is also called the Submarine Memorial. It’s a tiny, private family cemetery that holds the remains of Rev. Allis (who was missionary to the Pawnee), his family and his descendants; Allis was a true pioneer of this area. The submarine memorial is a much later monument, and has an interesting and tragic story behind it and it’s reclamation.
Wall Cemetery is located off the Bellevue exit on I-29, right by the Iowa Power Plant. When you take the Bellevue exit, which puts you off onto a street called Bunge Avenue, go east less than half a mile, to the first road you come to. This will be 195 Street. Turn right onto 195 Street, and follow this about 5 miles. You’ll pass Allis Road, and in the vicinity of the first driveway after that you’ll see a sign with “Wall Cemetery” on it.
The Wall Family Cemetery
http://www.steveandmarta.com/graveyards/submarine/submarine_monuments.htm
The cemetery is a small, private and nearly forgotten isolated acreage of ground. Also known as a Submarine Memorial, it is now both a memorial to one person - who lost his life on a submarine fighting in the Pacific - and to all lost WWII U.S. Submariners
The submarine memorial is a much later monument and has an interesting and tragic story behind it and it's reclamation. One of the family's direct descendants was Vernon Palmer Wall, who enlisted in the Navy within days of Pearl Harbor. He was assigned to the submarine USS SEAWOLF SS-287, which was lost at sea with all hands on October 3, 1944.
Note: The USS SEAWOLF, which is the WWII SubVets-of-Texas' adopted submarine and has been memorialized in Seawolf Park, Galveston, Texas. SEAWOLF shares its location with the USS CAVALLA Submarine Museum and the USS STEWART, the last of its class of Destroyer Escorts extant.
Until September of 1979, the cemetery itself had been forgotten and neglected. None of the family lived in the Midwest and as is happening everywhere, acreage around the plot were being sold for homesite development
Roy Gaddis, a former Electrician's Mate who is a retired electrician and lives in Bellevue, Nebraska, found the cemetery and alerted the Wahoo, Nebraska Chapter of the United States Submarine Veterans of WWII. The Chapter's Historian Clint Orr, did some investigating and found the information on Vernon Wall. He and Ray Cavanaugh began cleaning up and mowing the small plot that year.
After some of the Wall family members learned of the plot's existence, they donated funds to put up a strong chain link fence to replace the hog wire that had ineffectively enclosed the cemetery and donated money for shrubs and plants. His family put up a cenotaph marker which is dedicated to him, together with grave markers of the US Submarine Veterans of WWII and the American Legion.
The Submarine Vets are still taking care of the plot and they keep a US flag flying over the site to honor Vernon Wall and all Submariners who lost their lives in World War II. It is a small but impressive memorial.
More information regarding this Memorial site may be found found at the website of Marta Dawes who developed the website containing the information regarding the Wall Memorial to MM/1C Vernon Palmer Wall.
All text and images in this section were contributed by Art Randall
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