Although she's related to a Civil War veteran, Carol Mitte says she's talking about her great great grandfather's service in the confederate army a lot more now than when she was growing up.

"We didn't discuss it that much. I've just, since i'm a history buff with Clark County, I've gotten into it more."

Sylvanus Warner's history was never lost as the years went by, but Carol never felt she had the whole story.

"I had bits and pieces, but never the whole puzzle."

When he passed away in 1939, he was reported to be Thorp's last Civil War veteran.

A Fourth of July program in Thorp celebrated their contributions along with at least 40 others whose final resting places are in or around Thorp.

"We're very appreciative that they can be honored for their struggle," said Gerald "Jug" Glasshof, whose grandfather Peter Glasshof fought in the Civil War.

"Those people fought, like all of us do, to continue our independence," said Robert Zukowski of Thorp's American Legion Post #118.

"Whether they died in battle or returned home safe to raise their families and produce decendents like us, that glory is theirs forever," Mitte said.

She just hopes a celebration of that glory is enough to influence other families to preserve their own history. "Go home, talk to grandma and grandpa anybody who's still alive and write it down."

That way, future generations in Thorp won't have to wonder why, years after a ceremony honoring Americans' independence from themselves.