CAMDEN, S.C. — Thursday was a historic day in South Carolina, as a procession for 14 unidentified Revolutionary War soldiers who died at the Battle of Camden honored the fallen across Richland and Kershaw counties.
The procession drove past all public schools from Camden to Columbia in hopes to educate students. One of those schools was Camden High School, where social studies teacher Steven Smith says it was a historic moment.
"When this opportunity came up, obviously the students need to see because it's a once-in-a-lifetime thing," Smith said.
Smith hopes seeing history in person will have a larger impact than through the textbook.
"History is hard because nobody ... those people lived in the past, they don't live in our present," Smith said. "And that's why our students find it hard, and a lot of students ... we're really unaware of it, so this event makes it more tangible.
11th-grade student Robert Jenkins said it was nice to take history out of the classroom.
"When teachers are talking about it, it's like, 'Oh, it's like 100 years ago, 200 years ago," so it's cool to see it in its reality," Jenkins said. "It was great. Everyone clapped at the end, and I think it's great for everybody to get to see that because I'm sure there were some people who didn't even know about it until today."
The route continued to the State House, where attendee Dawn Hinkle stood emotional. "I did get emotional when they said about the 14-year-old. I have a son, I have two daughters and I know men and women serve in the military, and I can't imagine the sacrifices that the whole families make to fight for our country."
The procession continued to Fort Jackson and then back to Camden, where the remains will lie in repose before the ceremonies Saturday.