Granville remembers its veterans
By Erik Pekar, Town Historian
Veterans Day is next Wednesday. It is the day when we honor those who have served the United States in the military. For many, many years, Granville has held a parade on Veterans Day. The parade would have included the Mettowee Valley Cemetery, an acknowledgement of the Memorial Clock, and speeches at Veterans Memorial Park. This year, due to the circumstances caused by the pandemic, there will be no parade.
Granville’s veteran organizations, the Granville Post of the American Legion and the Falvey-Fringi Post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, will be holding small ceremonies.
Granville’s veterans have been honored in several monuments over the years, most of them being permanent honor rolls, some of which replaced wooden “temporary” honor rolls.
A monument for the Revolutionary War soldiers was commissioned by the Captain Israel Harris Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, and dedicated in 1914.
The monument for World War I was built in 1924 and was placed in front of the old high school that stood where Veterans Memorial Park is today.
A Civil War monument was placed at the entrance to the Mettowee Valley Cemetery in 1938. This monument has no names; while a list of those from Granville who served in the Civil War was compiled in 1865, to date no permanent honor roll monument has materialized.
The World War II permanent honor roll monument was built in 1949. It was installed in front of the current high school on Quaker Street, and dedicated May 30, 1949.
There were additional memorials for World War II. In 1945, pine trees were planted along the sides of the eastern part of the driveway across the high school grounds, near the Church Street entrance. These trees were dedicated on Memorial Day, May 30, 1945, to those who had given the ultimate sacrifice while serving in World War II. A few more trees were planted, and another dedication ceremony was held on Memorial Day, 1946, after the war was over. The driveway, or at least the part lined with the pine trees, became known as Memorial Lane.
Another dedication was made in 1956, when a plaque was installed on a rocky hillside along Memorial Lane just west of the trees, noting the names of the Granville men who had died serving in World War II, and for which the trees were planted. This plaque was eventually moved inside the high school, and around 2005 was moved to Veterans Memorial Park where it remains today. A new monument commemorating Memorial Lane was dedicated in 2012.
However, the trees were not the first memorial to those who served in World War II. Earlier, in 1943, the Granville community got together and raised funds to acquire a new bank clock to replace the one destroyed by fire the previous winter. This clock was placed on the Washington County National Bank building, and dedicated Sept. 26, 1943. A banner reading “World War II” was on every side; “Lest We Forget” was printed on two opposite sides, and “Those Who Served” was on the other two opposing sides.
Honor roll monuments for the Korean War and Vietnam War were placed to the left and right of the World War II memorial in front of the high school. The monuments were unveiled and dedicated as part of the American Bicentennial activities in August 1976.
Granville’s newest monument dedicated to its veterans is the Global War on Terrorism monument, placed in Veterans Memorial Park a couple of weeks ago in late October. Since this conflict is ongoing, there are no names on the monument.
Granville has answered the call to serve America during times of war and has served America well. This is true of every conflict from the Revolutionary War on. The largest group from Granville was that of more than 700 men who served in World War II. Today, few of Granville’s members of the Greatest Generation remain. Granville has commemorated its veterans in many ways over the years, through monuments and parades. Granville does not forget. This Veterans Day, thank a veteran.
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