#post-id: 5169-21-28
#original-date: 20.09.2014 Sat
#original-time: 9:28 PM
#original-day:  5169
#original-host: WinXP Home SP3 (Build 2600)

> *Grave Of King Neptune The Pig*
> 
> Mount Pleasant, Illinois
> Died 1950
> 
> King Neptune was the US Navy's unofficial mascot for nine years. 
> He helped raise over $19 million in war bonds during W.W.II 
> by being repeatedly "auctioned off" on fundraising tours. 
> The 700 lb. porker would be dressed in a navy blue robe, a gold 
> crown (made by a local Women's Club) and would wear silver 
> earrings and painted toenails.
> 
> Navy recruiter Don Lingle hatched the resale scheme when he was 
> given King Neptune as a piglet to barbecue in the early 1940's. 
> In the spirit of patriotism, high bidders buying the pig at war 
> bond rallies always returned him.
> 
> King Neptune's eroded grave was not lavish, or even very 
> recognizable, situated at a roadside rest stop. The inscription 
> reads: "Buried here - King Neptune, famous Navy mascot pig 
> auctionedfor $19,000,000.00 in war bonds 1942-1946 to help make 
> a free world."
> 
> Vandalism of King Neptune's gravestone prompted the Illinois 
> Department of Transportation to build a new memorial to the 
> patriotic porker at the Trail of Tears Welcome Center on 
> northbound I-57, north of exit 31 (Anna).

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/3616

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