Their graves, in three scattered plots at Oak Hill Cemetery, go unnoticed today.

Yet it was little more than 100 years ago the men were recognized for exceptional bravery during the Civil War, 30 years before that.

This week thousands of World War II veterans are being recognized in ceremonies leading to the dedication of the Dole Institute of Politics at Kansas University. The events include the largest gathering of recipients of the Medal of Honor since the end of World War II.

Few people in Lawrence, however, know that 2nd Lt. Thomas N. Graham, 2nd Lt. Henry S. Hall and Cpl. Samuel J. Churchill, all Union soldiers, were awarded the Army Medal of Honor and buried at the old cemetery.

“We’ve had few people that I can recall inquiring about them,” said Mitch Young, supervisor of the city-maintained cemetery.

One exception in recent months was a woman who said she wanted to get special plaques for the graves to more visibly mark them as the sites of Medal of Honor recipients, Young said. So far there are no special plaques at the graves.

The medals were given to Hall in 1891 and Graham and Churchill in 1897.

“Before the Civil War, there were no (national) medals,” said Col. Clay Edwards, director of the Combat Studies Institute at Fort Leavenworth. “We didn’t do that. But we never had a war like the Civil War before, either.”

The requirements for receiving the Medal of Honor also have been changed and refined over the years.

The gravestone noting that Thomas N. Graham is a Medal of Honor recipient is one of three such grave markers at Oak Hill Cemetery. The three veterans, Graham, Henry Seymour Hall and Samuel J. Churchill, received the Medal of Honor for their service during the Civil War.

“It’s become a lot harder to earn a Medal of Honor,” said Capt. Jim Cooper, commander of the Naval ROTC program at KU. “There were a lot of medals given out for the Civil War, although I’m sure many of them were for true acts of bravery.”

Various sources of information available on Graham, Hall and Churchill describe their acts of bravery, but details are minimal.

l On Nov. 25, 1863, at Missionary Ridge, Tenn., Graham was serving with Company G of the 15th Indiana Infantry. His citation states that he “seized the colors from the color bearer, who had been wounded, and, exposed to fire, carried them forward, planting them on the enemy’s breastworks.”

l Hall was recognized with one medal for two incidents. One occurred June 27, 1862, while he was 2nd Lieutenant with Company G, 27th New York Infantry, at Gaines Mill, Va. Hall, though wounded, remained on duty and took part in battle. On Nov. 7, 1863, he was a captain with Company F, 121st New York Infantry at Rappahannock Station, Va. He “rendered gallant and prompt assistance in reforming the regiments inside the enemy’s works.”

l Churchill, on Dec. 15, 1864, was a corporal with Company G, 2nd Illinois Light Artillery at Nashville, Tenn. While other men sought shelter under enemy shelling, Churchill “stood manfully at his post and for some minutes worked his gun alone.”

Medals of Honor are issued by the president in the name of Congress after recommendations are passed on by the military. Although branches of the military have their own distinctive Medals of Honor, the involvement of Congress has caused confusion, leading to the referral of nearly all of them as “Congressional Medals of Honor.”

There are other, true congressional Medals of Honor, which Congress has bestowed on individuals on its own without referrals from the military.

Ironically, the three medal recipients buried at Oak Hill weren’t born in Lawrence, nor did any of their battles take place nearby. Yet at some point after they left the military, old city directories at Watkins Community Museum of History show, Graham and Churchill did live here, both dying in the early 1900s. No listing could be found for Hall, however.