Sons of the Dark and Bloody Ground,
Ye must not slumber there,
Where stranger steps and tongues resound
Along the heedless air.
Your own proud land's heroic soil
Shall be your fitter grave:
She claims from war his richest spoil-
The ashes of her brave.
This geocache is dedicated to the memory of our fallen soldiers. The title of this cache and the key to deciphering the coordinates of this cache is based on Theodore O'Hara's poem "Bivouac of the Dead". Although stanzas from this poem are inscribed on iron tablets found throughout some of the oldest units of this country's national cemeteries, there is little public recognition of this poet-soldier and his long-lived literary contribution to the memorialization of fallen troops. The complete poem can be found at http://www.cem.va.gov/history/BODpoem.asp
A stanza from this poem can be found inscribed on a plaque at the base of a Memorial Oak planted on June 4, 1921 on the campus of SUNY at Farmingdale to honor those who fought and died in WWI. The Memorial Oak was planted with soils from every state, and all Allied Nations. The tree continues to live and is on the national honor roll of memorial trees. The class of 1927 dedicated an inscribed tablet to mark the Memorial Oak for future generations. More information on the memorial oak can be found at http://www.farmingdale.edu/library/college-archives/history-memorial-oak.shtml
To find the coordinates for the cache you will need to use a Polybius Chequerboard cipher (uploaded here as an picture image) and the stanza from "Bivouac of the Dead" inscribed on the tablet. We suggest you park at N 40 44.944 W 073 25.776 (visitor's parking) to avoid a parking ticket. It is a very pleasant walk across campus to the Memorial Oak.
The cache is a 6"x2.5"x2.5" waterproof plastic bottle. Original contents are Across America Travel Bug, log-sheet, and a pencil. If you are going to take something please leave something patriotic. Be sure to sign the log-sheet and stop to reflect on those that have given their lives for this country. "All gave some, but some gave all."
To find the coordinates of the cache you MUST:
- Bring the code, a blank Chequerboard form (uploaded here as an picture image), and a pencil or pen.
- Find the Memorial Oak at the coordinates given.
- Find the stanza inscribed on the tablet.
- Fill in the Polybius Chequerboard with the stanza. Use no spaces or punctuations (use only A-Z) starting from the upper left hand corner and going from left to right with each new line you start. If you have done this correctly every box will be filled and the entire stanza will fit into the Chequerboard.
- Decipher the code using the completed Polybius Chequerboard cipher. Use the number on the side first, then the bottom. The code is grouped in 4's to make it easier to read.
The code:
9173 2638 3902 2774 5467 4976 9545 6123 1356 9273 1848 9849 0263
1665 5701 8843 6892 4728 5850 6375 5592 4731 3324 3789 3103 6996
3659 5203 3579 1699 2503 4977 0433 1313 3497 7126 0555 3503 3607 8111 4902
8816 6587 1715 6638 2563 5097 6878 5813 9502 6016 9994 1566 2898 0552
The chequerboard:
