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Veterans Cache Mystery Cache

Hidden : 11/11/2007
Difficulty:
3.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size:   micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

To find this cache you will have had to solve four Mecklenburg County war memorial caches: "The Lost Cause" (GC16M4V), "Spirit of the American Doughboy" (GC162HP), "The Greatest Generation" (GC169W9), and "The Wall" (GC170FT). Once these have been found you will have traipsed, read, calculated, and learned a little more about how veterans have been honored in the county. You will also have visited some parks and cemeteries that you might not have otherwise visited.

So, let’s finish out the series with one last tribute to those who served their country in times of war. Pull out your notes from your four finds, and paper and pencil, and take them with you. A calculator might be helpful

To find the cache, you will have to make two intermediary but appropriate stops, and have in hand the following figures:

The Lost Cause
A. Grave Markers
B. Stelae
check: A + B = 149

Spirit of the American Doughboy
C. First Date on Plaque
D. Last Date on Plaque
check: C + D = 3836

The Greatest Generation
E. Names Beginning with N
F. Names Beginning with W
check: E + F = 33

The Wall
G. Number of Presidents
H. Years War Lasted
I. Lives Lost
J. Year Lochlin Walker Died
check: G + H + I + J = 2113

Suggestion: In the comfort of your home do as much calculating as you can with figures A thru J. At the stops, you can plugin X and Y.

The checksums above are to allow you to find where there may be an error if any.

On May 8th, 2016 the calculations were changed to allow for the addition of three stelae at the Lost Cause.

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First Stop:
The listed coordinates will take you to a numbered post:
The number of that Post: X

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Make these calculations to take you to the Second Stop

N 35* aa.xxx
W 080* bb.yyy


aa: (H - 4)
xxx: (X - (2 x C) - (2 x D) - (11 x A) - 51)
bb: ( (2 x F) - (2 x G) )
yyy: (X - (4 x J) - (7 x A) - I eye + 12)

checksum: a+a+x+x+x+b+b+y+y+y=34

Second Stop is also a numbered Post
The number of that Post: Y

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Make these calculations to take you to the cache: Finally!!!

N 35* aa.xxx
W 080* bb.yyy


aa: (H - G + 1)
xxx: (A - B - H + 3)
bb: ( (3 x H) - 3)
yyy: (Y - (9 x I eye) - (2 x B) - (2 x H) - 4 )

checksum: a+a+x+x+x+b+b+y+y+y=35

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Well, almost finally. The cache site was pruned and the cache was thus necessarily moved nearby.

for xxx add 31
for yyy add 12


checksum: a+a+x+x+x+b+b+y+y+y=33

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So, there you have it. If you have figured correctly, when you enter the city park it will be obvious that you are on the right track. The cache is a traditional ammo can tethered to a tree.

Thank you for honoring the veterans of America's wars by pursuing these five caches. Obviously missing from this series are memorials to the veterans of The Revolution, The War of 1912, The Mexican War, The Spanish American War, The Korean War, The Gulf War, and Iraq and Afghanistan. Also, not to be forgotten, are the men and women who served and died in other parts of the world at other times in conflicts and actions not in the common lexicon of American wars.

On Veterans Day, 2013, six years after this cache was published, there was dedicated a memorial to the veterans of the Korean War. A cache, not part of this series, has been placed there. Visit The Forgotten War

 

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Qbja gur fgrcf lbh tb. frpherq gb gur ynetr gerr gurer va gur pbeare jbbqf.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
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N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)