Toledo Memorial Park unveils WWI honor

Monument names Lucas County’s 327 dead from the war.

One hundred years to the hour after World War I ended, representatives of the Toledo Memorial Park unveiled a monument in honor of 327 soldiers, sailors, Marines, and nurses from Lucas County who died during the war.

Michael Lieber, official town crier for the city of Sylvania, opened the ceremony on Sunday with a statement of history and a cry for peace. An estimated 9 million members of any military died during the war, along with several million civilians, he said.

“Today, town criers around the world are recognizing 100 years of remembrance,” he said.

The monument itself is a star-shaped memorial tablet of black granite, engraved with the names of individuals from Lucas County who served and died in WWI. It was established by the Veterans Tower at Toledo Memorial Park. At its base are poppy flowers, a remembrance symbol of the war.

“Today is the true Veterans Day. We are here in the 11th month, on the 11th day, at the 11th hour to recognize the signing of the armistice of World War I,” said Jeff Clegg, president and CEO of Toledo Memorial Park.

Clegg said the story of the new monument began more than 90 years ago, a few years after the end of WWI.

In 1922, when Toledo Memorial Park was first developed, the area was an empty field, he said. At the end of the war, troops came home and picked up their lives as best as they could. Over the years they also worked to honor everyone who left to serve in the war from Lucas County, the 327 who never came home.

“These 327 men and women lost in battle did not receive a parade, a welcome home party, and most likely, most didn’t even receive a proper burial,” Clegg said.

In the field that was to become Toledo Memorial Park, residents planted 327 trees in honor of the 327 people who died in the war, he said. At the base of every tree sat a bronze plaque, detailing the person for whom that tree was planted.

Over time, Clegg said, the trees grew so large that they overtook the plaques. Rather than replace them, representatives from the park agreed to establish the memorial monument with the names of those who died.

“We’re all here today to honor our current and living veterans,” he said. “Ladies and gentlemen, you have served our country with honor, and we are all here today to thank you for your service.”

Of the millions who died on battlefields in Europe were 117,000 U.S. troops, Clegg said. He encouraged everyone, not just on Veterans Day, but every day, if they happen to meet a veteran, to thank them, buy them a cup of coffee, or pay for their meal in a restaurant.

“We owe them our very way of life,” he said.