1918 Pandemic: Vernon Soldier Dies ... Another Tries To Save Lives

VERNON, CT — Each Memorial Day, two Vernon veterans of two different wars are remembered for falling and trying to prevent those from falling during that ... other ... pandemic.

Here are the stories of Dr. Thomas Rockwell and Benjamin Heller during the 1918 pandemic from the Vernon Historical Society archives.

Spanish American War

Rockwell (1854-1934) was a local physician whose home and office still stand next to Talcott Park.

Dr. Rockwell served during the war in 1898 as the Post Surgeon of the military post at Niantic and later as the consulting surgeon at the First Division Hospital at Camp Alger in Virginia.

During the 1918 pandemic, Rockwell cared for residents suffering from influenza in a tent hospital in his back yard.

World War I

Heller (1894-1918) and his brothers, Otto, Adolph and William, served in the military at the same time.

Benjamin did not return home dying of pneumonia at Camp Meade in Maryland during the 1918 pandemic at the age of 24.

Both are buried at Grove Hill Cemetery in Vernon.