Memorial for Ohio National Guard unveiled to public
The city of St. Marys was treated to the unveiling of a new memorial on Friday, with various people coming together in order to celebrate it being finished.
After months of work setting the foundation and making the memorial piece by piece, the Ohio Army National Guard Memorial has officially been finished. The site is in Memorial Park, with the ceremony having taken place there at around 11 a.m. that morning.
Various veterans organizations came together to celebrate the unveiling, as well as many members of the city of St. Marys administration. The ceremony was started with a welcome by Public Service and Safety Director Greg Foxhoven, as well as a posting of the colors by Bravo Company, 837th Bridge Engineer Battalion, OARNG. An invocation was also done by Cpt. Shane Bailey, chaplain of the OARNG.
The event features speakers such as SFC Joseph Woodrum, Lt. Col. William Stratton and Lt. Col. David Swisher of various organizations come to speak, with a presentation done shortly afterward by Krista Prater. Final remarks and a benediction was done afterward by Col. Matthew Woodruff and Cpt. Shane Bailey.
The memorial wouldn’t have been made without the work of people like Kim Reiher, who was one of the spearheads behind the project. Reiher made sure to research and report on various members of the Ohio National Guard who served at the armory, having had the memorial built in order to honor their memory. He routinely put up profiles of soldiers that served at the armory online in order to help preserve their legacy for anyone to see.
More information about the armory, as well as those it serves to honor, can be found online at the Ohio National Guard Memorial Facebook page.