Ken Mong Sr., pictured above during a re-enactment, died when he suffered a heart attack behind the wheel last July driving home from a re-enactment. He was 70.
Something was missing from the 19th Ohio Light Artillery unit at this year’s Gettysburg battle re-enactment.
They had all their guns and ramrods. Pelnty of ammunition, supplies and other acouterments of war. What the tight-knit group lacked was far more integral to their unit than any material belongings or replica weaponry.
It was one of their own. Their 1st lieutenant, Kenny Mong.
Mong suffered a heart attack behind the wheel last July while driving home from the Argus Park re-enactment in Canfield, Ohio. His truck, towing a cannon on a trailer, crossed over Ohio’s Route 93 into the opposing lane of traffic and rolled over five miles from his Akron, Ohio, home. Mong was 70.
Mong’s son, Kenny Mong Jr., remembered his dad as an enthusiastic re-enactor who was a steward of safety and was always willing to lend a hand.
“He always wanted to do things right and do it with a style so other units took notice and modeled themselves from what they saw from the 19th Ohio,” Mong said.
On July 1, when the Seminary Ridge Museum opened up to fanfare and pageantry, complete with a gubernatorial visit, it was the 19th Ohio’s guns that sounded the first shots fired on Seminary grounds in 150 years.
The crowd roared Monday as member’s of Captain Bill Smith’s 19th Ohio fired 60 pounds of powder through the barrels of five guns, signaling the commencement of the Battle of Gettysburg’s sesquicentennial.
It was a moment for Capt. Smith’s unit to be proud of. As the cannons echoed across the hallowed ground, much of the re-enacting community had its eyes on the unit that Mong helped build. If only he was there to see it.
“He would have loved that on Seminary Ridge,” said Mark Kelley, 1st Sgt. of the 19th Ohio. “There were more people there to talk to than you could shake a stick at.”
Mong loved talking to people. And when he spoke, people listened.
“He was one of our leaders,” the 70-year-old Smith said of Mong. “I could count on him for anything.”
Smith, leader of the 19th Ohio for decades, knew he could always trust his right-hand man to properly train new members on how to prepare, load and fire artillery.
“He knew what he was doing and he did it safely,” Smith said.
Mong’s son, now 37 and living in Clinton, Ohio, grew up around re-enactments with Smith’s son, Wes Smith. Two years apart in age, the two naturally became close over the years.
“It was always fun to go to re-enactments and spend time with those people who share your interests,” Mong said. “Re-enactment friendships are a lot like those you make when you’re on a team.”
Wes Smith, who became the 19th Ohio’s 1st Lieutenant since Mong’s passing, said he knows he has some big shoes to fill.
“His steadiness,” Wesley said when asked what he misses most about a man he referred to as his second dad. “He was always the first one here. It didn’t seem to start out on the right foot without him.”
But Mong was there.
Kelley said they had to work hard to do so, but he and several others were able to fully repair the cannon damaged in Mong’s wreck to be used during the Gettysburg Anniversary Committee’s battle re-enactment at Redding Farm in Straban Township. And one could not enter the United States Artillery Reserve camp this weekend without seeing that they were in “Camp Kenny Mong.”
“I was very touched that dad was so well received by those who worked with him in the hobby,” Mong said. “He was a unique man and a great father. It was fitting that his favorite big event was the one he was honored at.”
Brian Taylor said Mong’s knowledge of battles and re-enactments was and still is indelible.
“He would help you with anything,” said Taylor, 28, a member of the 19th Ohio from Grove City. “Life problems, work problems, whatever.”
Mong Jr. started re-enacting with his dad when he was 11. He enjoyed traveling with him to battlefield parks and re-enactments just as much as he enjoyed the events themselves. He liked the Cedar Creek re-enactment in Virginia the most.
The Gettysburg re-enactment in 2010 was the last time he got to enjoy the hobby with the man who introduced him to it.
Mong said they had talked about doing some re-enactments in 2012, but he never managed to make it happen. They also discussed doing Gettysburg’s 150th together.
When his dad got home from the Gettysburg re-enactment last year, he asked his son if he wanted to do it with him this year. Mong Jr. knew it would be a great experience with his dad. But only a few short weeks later, that time was taken from them, he said.
Now it is his turn to pass something on to his children that would make their grandfather proud. Mong Sr. passed away three days before the birth of his grandson, Kolton Jeffery Kenneth Mong.
“Road trips with dad were uplifting and a great bonding experience that I will always cherish and hope to duplicate with my own son,” Mong said.
Kelley described the Argus Park event last summer as the most fun the group had ever had.
“All of us were laughing and giggling all weekend,” Kelley said. “We just had a ball.”
At Antietam in September, the same group gathered, laughing and weeping as they told stories and recalled fond memories of their dear friend who left them too soon.
It is safe to say the 19th Ohio will always be missing something.
mwalters@eveningsun.com; @walt_walters