
READER SUBMISSION
While at the Grand Rapids Veterans Hospital off Highway 131 in southwest Michigan, I was sitting in our car waiting for my husband. I saw what seemed so normal and so cool at the same time. After a while, I went into the building to see why my husband hadn’t come out yet. The lady at the desk said I’m sorry but he should be out soon. I said “Oh, that’s OK. I’m having fun watching the soldier out in the yard marching and doing formations. One was yelling out commands and they would respond.” She looked at me and froze. Silence. Then she said plainly, “We don’t have any soldiers here.” I said, “Yes! You want to see them? Look out your window and you will see them!” She didn’t speak. Finally, she said, “From time to time we have three or four in uniform for flag raising, special events but it’s very rare.” I told her there were about 60 or 70 of them in uniform. They came out of a shed alongside the front yard.
When I went back to the car, there wasn’t a soldier in sight. I sat there wondering, “Hmmm, how could 60 to 70 soldiers fit in that shed?” It was small with no windows. Why would they be in there? I have seen angels and occasionally things from the other side and my info was correct. Being so sure of what I had seen, I went home and got on the computer. I looked up Haunted VA. Hospital in Grand Rapids Michigan and there it was! It said, “Visitors have reported seeing soldiers on the grounds. Could be the spirits of the dead soldiers buried in the cemetery next to the property.”
I have seen them also . I always pray for them to be able to move on. I feel they are there watching over the men and women there today.
It’s nice to know that someone else has seen our Civil War Soldiers at the Veterans Home. When I mention it to my cousin that lives there he just smiles at me. So I know he has seen them too.. We will have to see if they continue to visit once the old buildings are gone and the new home is finished. I have this feeling that they will stay close by.
There are woods near my house that give me a very creepy feeling when I walk in them. They are in Benzonia Michigan, by Benzie Street and US 31. I walk through them frequently and almost always get the feeling of being watched. I’ve heard walking behind me occasionally… It’s even worse at night. Not sure if there is any history but again, I always feel something is in the woods there. Several years ago our neighbor had a couple of his blankets stolen. We suspected a homeless person, but we couldn’t find any trash or anything suggesting a human was there. I have noticed that at some points, the birds stop chirping and I can’t hear anything besides a couple cars on the nearby highway. Not even the wind. This is usually when the feeling of being watched is most apparent. When I walk through them during the winter, I sometimes see an extra set of footprints near mine when I return to my house. Again, I’m not sure if something has happened in these woods… but something isn’t right.