A Tribute to Ashel

Who is Ashel? He is Ashel Eber Pipes, born in 1858 to James Pipes and Mary Denton, probably within ear shot of Union Cemetery. His parents along with almost all of the Children of William Pipes and Nancy Gray Pipes moved to Pike County, Indiana between 1855 and 1860. The one child of William and Nancy who stayed in Boyle Co. was George Washington Pipes and his wife Mariah Edwards.
Ashel was probably a hard scrabble Farmer in Pike County and at the age of 34 he enlisted in the Army. He was a member of several units and re enlisted several times and finally in 1899 was assigned to Company "M" of the 3rd US Infantry and was shipped to the Phillipines. On mAy 23rd 1899 he was Killed in Action at a place called Maasin on Leyete Island. In the early 1900s his body was removed and reinterred in the National Military Cemetery at the Presidio in San Francisco. My sons, who live near there, discovered his grave marker a few years ago and we visit there when ever we have the chance. The view from just above his burial site is one of the most beautiful places on this earth. It looks out over San Francisco Bay and Angel Island and the scene there is very serene. My son Taylor took the photos in the short movie below and I used Picasa to make the movie. Copy the http link below and paste it into your browser. Then be sure to select "View in HQ" on the upper right side of the screen when it appears or else it will be pixelated. The movie is about 1 min 30 seconds long with music.
http://picasaweb.google.com/bobpipes/TributeToAshel#5350275569078583874