Park monument making progress
With Memorial Day coming up, the memory of lost American soldiers are on people’s minds.
The monument dedicated to those for the National Guard, though, is making progress to give those memories a physical reminder.
Kim Reiher presented the plans to build the Ohio Army National Guard Memorial in Memorial Park in early March in dedication to the National Guard that worked in the St. Marys Armory from around 1877 to 2020. He’s been working hard to make sure the project gets done in a timely manner, and construction is expected to be underway soon.
“The administration thought
it would be a good idea, given the history of the National Guard in St. Marys, that we should create a memorial or monument to their service,” said Reiher. They came up with a plan soon afterward to construct the monument, which is expected to be finished Nov. 11.
“We have quite a few people involved in the
project, like some of the veterans organizations that represented the soldiers in the armory,” said Reiher.
The construction is expected to start within the next couple of weeks, with the layout work being the first phase. It will be good to see it come to fruition, adding another tribute to Memorial Park and honoring the work those who served in the area.
“It’ll be a brick and limestone construction.
It’ll have a concrete base with some pavers,” Reiher explained as being part of the construction. They plan on doing a tribute to another monument that was made to honor the soldiers who lost their lives during an accident in Lake Eerie. “They had a small monument over there, which we’re going to incorporate into the footprint of our own.”
Reiher hopes the monument also helps bring the history of
those members who served to the forefront of people’s minds, talking about the roughly 26 units placed in the armory at various points. Seven of those units served in combat as well, mentioning the specifics of Company K, who had six soldiers killed in action in World War I, as well as how they and Headquarters Detachment and Company F participated in World War II.
The presentation of the memorial when its finished is something he looks forward to, with plans to make it a big event for everyone involved. Displays will be done showing the history of the building and Reiher is having veterans banners made to honor the fallen.
“We’re having the veteran’s banners made thanks to the lady who makes the banners,” said Reiher. He has a special one planned for a whole of Company K. “I have a whole company picture, so we’re going to make a banner with that picture on it.”
The project is being funded by the city and he’s been receiving plenty of help from the people when it comes to certain soldiers. While he doesn’t have all the information about certain
members of the companies that served, mostly due to families scattering over the years, he’s thankful for what they have so far.
“If anyone wants to contribute to that, they can contact the city auditors office and make
some arrangements,” Reiher stated. “I think we’re almost ready for the construction phase. The design is done, the materials are picked out, and we have some contractors that are going to works with us, so it should be ready to go.”