SPANISH FORT – A simple ceremony Friday honored a Revolutionary War veteran and provided a flag for the Alabama State Veterans Memorial Cemetery.

The Fairhope Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5660 and the Daughters of the American Revolution took time to remember Zachariah Godbold, who fought for the creation of the country and died in Baldwin County, years after the war.

The American flag that was draped over Godbold’s grave in the Saluda Hill Cemetery will next month fly over the veterans cemetery begin built just down the hill.

“We are pleased to receive the flag,” said Alabama State Veterans Memorial Cemetery director Tony Ross. “It will play a prominent role in our dedication ceremony on Dec. 7.

“We have been blessed with good weather and are about 90 percent complete. While we will have the dedication next month, it will probably be February 2013 before we are set up for burials.”

Godbold was just 13 when he joined the ranks of Gen Francis Marion in South Carolina. After the war, he married, had 10 children and settled in Baldwin County.

Remembering all veterans

After a 21-gun salute and the playing of Taps, the honor guard presented the flag to VFW state commander Valentin Obregon. The Bay Minette resident said his respect of veterans began with his mother, who emigrated from the Philippines in 1927.

“I am a first-generation American,” said Obregon. “My mother told us we needed to serve our country.”

While proud to honor his mother and do his patriotic duty, Obregon didn’t learn of the worldwide opinion of American soldiers until his mother died. The funeral gave him a chance to meet Filipino cousins for the first time. Some of them were only 16 when World War II reached the South Pacific.

“The only thing on their minds was chasing soccer balls and chasing girls,” said Obregon. They had heard rumors of Japanese expansion. They had heard rumors of an attack on Pearl Harbor.”

Then on Dec. 10, 1941, Japan unleashed its air force on the harbor at Manila Bay, destroying numerous U.S. Navy ships and forcing the Philippines into submission.

“The Japanese took their land away,” said Obregon. “They ravaged the women. At 16 years of age, my cousin had to bow down and lick the boots of an Imperial soldier.”

His cousins joined guerilla fighters, where they had a glimmer of hope.

“Gen. (Douglas) McArthur said he would return and did,” said Obregon. “The American soldier gave them their land back, gave them hope back, and more importantly, gave them their freedom back.

“My cousins couldn’t believe that American soldiers would come halfway around the world to fight for their country – a country they had never seen before. My cousins gave a tremendous amount of respect and esteem to the America solider.”

The state veterans cemetery north of Spanish Fort on Highway 225 is set to be dedicated on Dec 7 at 10 a.m.