MILLBROOK — Local and county officials, a military honor guard, friends and family gathered at Nine Partners Cemetery near the grave of Korean War Veteran Army PFC Charles Johnson on Thursday, May 29. The well-attended ceremony was to honor Johnson’s bravery and sacrifice in battle and to dedicate a permanent plaque and flag markers indicating that Johnson’s valor had earned the Medal of Honor.
In December 2024, Johnson was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, officially presented at a White House ceremony on Friday, January 3, 2025, by President Joseph R. Biden.
Introductory remarks at the May 29 ceremony by Adam Roche, Director of the Dutchess County Office of Veterans Affairs honored Johnson, describing him as a “true American hero,” killed in battle at the age of 21, at Outpost Harry in Korea. Johnson’s heroic actions saved the lives of ten of his fellow infantrymen, including his captain.
An opening prayer by Deacon Duane Ware of Beulah Baptist Church spoke of Johnson’s legacy of patriotism, loyalty and brotherhood.
Participating in an official ceremony to honor the valorous service of Army PFC Charles R. Johnson during the Korean War and to dedicate a gravesite marker at Nine Partners Cemetery attesting that PFC Johnson was a recipient of the Medal of Honor were left to right County Executive Sue Serino, PFC Johnson’s nephew Kevin Johnson holding an official Proclamation presented during the ceremony, and Adam Roche, Director of the Office of Dutchess County’s Office of Veterans Affairs.Photo by Leila Hawken
The Rev. Dr. Matthew Calkins of Grace Episcopal Church, Millbrook, noted that the Johnson family had been members of the Millbrook church in the 1950s and that the church had attended to burial of Johnson’s remains in September 1953 at Nine Partners.
Drawings of three new stained glass window panels to be created and installed at Grace Church in the coming months were displayed and described by Rev. Calkins. One panel will honor Johnson’s memory, a second will honor Eleanor Roosevelt, and the third, in the middle, will depict Julian of Norwich, whose influential writings in the Middle Ages are the oldest discoveries of such writings to have been authored by a woman.
Vice Commander Dave Rogers of VFW Post 9008, Millbrook, announced that the VFW post is being renamed to honor Johnson. It will now be known as Charles R. Johnson Post 9008. In addition to the Medal of Honor, Johnson had been awarded the Purple Heart, the nation’s oldest medal, originally established by George Washington. Accordingly, Johnson’s grave will be adorned by a Purple Heart flag.
To mark Johnson’s gravesite, a flagpole has been erected at the cemetery by the Dutchess County Dept. of Public Works.
“We will always honor this grave,” said Brad Roeller, President of the Nine Partners Cemetery Association. He spoke of Johnson’s connections to Millbrook as “a rich story that will never be forgotten.”
“We thank you for recognizing Uncle Buddy,” said Johnson’s nephew, Kevin Johnson, on behalf of the Johnson family.
“For too long, Charles’ actions went unrecognized,” said Dutchess County Executive Sue Serino, citing Johnson’s courage and sacrifice that left a legacy. “His spirit and courage live on to inspire,” she added, praising the tireless efforts of many who pursued posthumous recognition for PFC Johnson’s bravery, to upgrade the Silver Star that had been awarded in 2011 to the Medal of Honor, a long campaign spanning decades.
In 2024, Congressman Pat Ryan joined in the effort by supporting the 20 years of regional efforts toward recognition.
A proclamation marking the long-awaited recognition was presented by Serino to Kevin Johnson.
“Charlie was older than I, but he was a friend of my brother’s,” said speaker Dominick Molella. “He was open and upbeat,” he added.
“He died for the soldiers he protected; his contributions and valor were ignored.” Molella said that his own involvement in the effort toward proper recognition began in early 2000, and he credited the Arlington High School for propelling the recognition campaign forward.
Heavy stone garden ornaments, a specialty of Judy Milne Antiques from Kingston, at Trade Secrets 2025.
Van Ginhoven points to towers of boxes containing event programs, various ribbons, elegant decor and stacks of magazines, all in preparation for the event.
Project SAGE will celebrate its 26th year hosting Trade Secrets, but it’s so much more than a garden event.
“It’s a fundraiser for domestic violence prevention and intervention,” van Ginhoven said. “Anybody who attends knows they’re supporting a really meaningful and important cause.”
The fundraiser accounts for at least 30 percent of the organization’s overall budget, she said, and attracts around 3,000 people from across the region each year, creating an unmatched opportunity for Project SAGE to share its mission and generate support.
The event, though expensive to produce, generates enough income to significantly support Project SAGE’s direct services and prevention services.
Officials said a wave of new underwriters have emerged this year.
“We’re very grateful, because we live in a time when funding is uncertain,” van Ginhoven said.
Hundreds of copies of the annual Trade Secrets guide sat at Project SAGE headquarters, ready for distribution at the event. The book doubles as a domestic violence resource, complete with warning signs, myth-busting information and scripts for difficult conversations.
Volunteers will be present throughout the event to connect with community members. Each volunteer must be certified as a domestic violence counselor in order to work with Project SAGE.
“It means they can help us drive clients, move clients, take them to appointments or the grocery store,” van Ginhoven said.
Project SAGE officials said education about domestic violence should start early. The organization has developed a comprehensive curriculum spanning early childhood through grade 12 and visits schools throughout the region. The class of 2026 will be the first graduating class at Housatonic Valley Regional High School to have received all four years of training from Project SAGE.
Martha Stewart signing her new book at Trade Secrets 2025.Christine Bates
The organization’s partnerships extend throughout the region and include on-site training in schools and nonprofit organizations, including the Sharon Playhouse. Community support also goes directly to Project SAGE, including a recently donated array of colorful gift bags bearing positing affirmations and filled with toiletries and basic necessities from students at the Frederick Gunn School in Washington, Connecticut.
The people who visit Project SAGE have often left uncomfortable or dangerous situations and leave without any belongings.
“Some of them have nothing,” van Ginhoven said. “They just show up because they had the courage to leave.”
Project SAGE staff say many referrals come through local hospitals, police and sister agencies.
The organization serves people in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York.
With the stress of event planning mounting, van Ginhoven spent a “previous life” preparing for this exact moment. She spent 30 working at the intersection of arts and activism, having co-founded WAM Theatre, a Lenox-based organization focused on stories and issues affecting those who self-identify as women and girls. During her tenure, WAM donated $100,000 to 25 local and global organizations working toward gender equity in areas such as girls’ education, teen pregnancy prevention, gender-based violence, sexual trafficking awareness and midwife training.
“I love the adrenaline of putting on a show,” van Ginhoven said with a laugh. With the help of volunteers and organizers, she said she isn’t bothered by the stress.
“The show will go on,” she said.
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Caroline Kinsolving and Gary Capozzielo at home in Salisbury with their dogs, Petruchio and Beatrice
“We met during the pandemic, a bleak time,” Kinsolving said. “On our first date, we met at The Hickory Stick Bookshop and walked outside six feet apart. We fell in love.”
They lived in a tiny studio near Averill Farm in Washington, Connecticut.
“He played his violin, I worked on my lines, we walked the dog, and suddenly we were circling each other perfectly,” Capozziello said with a laugh. “When I told her I was a violinist, she mentioned ‘Appalachian Spring’ by Aaron Copland. I sent her a recording of me playing it, and it became our song.”
“For our wedding, we wanted all our friends and family out in the field listening to that music,” Kinsolving said. Capozziello’s friends from Orchestra New England performed the piece at their wedding.
“Circus Fire,” written by Connecticut’s own Jacques Lamarre and directed by Jared Mezzocchi, is a multimedia world-premiere tribute to the Hartford Circus Fire. On July 6, 1944, the big top of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus caught fire, killing 167 and injuring 700 in Connecticut’s worst fire disaster.
Capozziello, who grew up in Fairfield, began: “I came from very limited means, though my parents gave me the kind of support that mattered most. I had a hard time in school. My music teachers, noticing my knack for music, kept me in school.” As he became a teenager, he realized how demanding classical violin truly is. “I had the honor of playing in a master class for Isaac Stern when I was 18,” he said. “That was the wake-up call. He was relentless with my intonation, telling me I must ‘feel the fire in my belly.’”
At SUNY Purchase, he “met a wonderful violin teacher who taught me to play, study and practice five hours a day.” After studying at the New England Conservatory, Capozziello earned his doctorate from The Hartt School in 2018. He now teaches at The Hotchkiss School and performs with the Hartford Symphony.
He explained that his role as assistant concertmaster is the direct line between conductor and musicians, and that the orchestra is “a family dynamic, a democratic unit, truly a living, breathing organism.”
Caroline Kinsolving and Gary Capozzielo Jennifer Almquist
On May 2, Capozziello was soloist with Orchestra New England, performing the world premiere of Neely Bruce’s “Concerto for Violin,” along with “The River” by Jan Swafford and Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” at Battell Chapel at Yale.
“I care about bringing classical music into communities and spaces where people may not expect it,” said Capozziello.“Music is most powerful to me when it feels alive, humanand accessible, not distant or formal.”
For 20 years, Kinsolving has acted in film, television and theater in London, New York and Los Angeles. “I was first onstage at Washington Montessori School playing Peter Pan,” she said. “I improvised a line, got a laugh and liked the feeling.”
She enjoys performing Shakespeare. “I love Titania’s monologue because it speaks to our current climate crisis. Lady Macbeth surprised me. I fell in love with her while I was doing it. I could play those scenes forever; so much range and depth to explore,” she said.
Kinsolving added, “I love Shakespeare’s comedies for the fun and rhythm. I have loved Rosalind, Viola, Olivia, Helena and Kate, yet the top of my bucket list is Beatrice. Each character reflects a shade of my soul. Shakespeare had the brilliance to illuminate them. If I ever get a tattoo, it will be a list of their names.”
Kinsolving, whose parents, poet Susan Kinsolving and author William Kinsolving, live in Lakeville, studied at Milton Academy, universities in China, and Vassar College. Her theater training includes Stella Adler Studio of Acting, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, Yale Drama Intensive and she is currently studying online through Juilliard.. She founded Theatre for Good, which donates its proceeds to charity.
Both artists are looking forward to June, when they will have more time to spend with their dogs.
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