LANCASTER, Pa. — Lancaster residents are coming together to honor local veterans.
In the middle of Sixth Ward Park, a new granite stone sits, bearing the names of 14 men who lost their lives in the First World War.
“They were all from the Sixth Ward area," said neighbor Tom Brooks. "It was a rough life, and they went. Some of them came back and some of them didn’t.”
Brooks has lived next to the Sixth Ward Park for over 70 years and says the park has been a community staple for decades.
Originally called Sixth Ward Soldiers Memorial Park, Brooks says it was established in 1927 to honor the 14 men who died during the war. Bronze name plaques for the men were placed on trees that surrounded the park, however, they were lost over time and never found.
Brooks and his neighbors wanted to change that.
“We thought, ‘well, we’ll get a stone made up because that’s something that, hopefully, won’t get lost,’” said Brooks.
“I feel like that’s such a big piece that we’re missing now," said neighbor Kelcy Waller. "Even the sign out here doesn’t say anything about Soldiers Memorial Park.”
Brooks teamed up with Waller, and fellow neighbors Jack Tracy and Chris Thompson to place the memorial stone by raising money from local businesses and neighbors.
Waller says the stone brings back the significance to the park.
“We wanted to just come together and find a way to help everyone else, who’s either new to the neighborhood or maybe has been here for a long time, to understand what this park was named for because it is such an important thing," said Waller.
The new stone will be commemorated during a Saturday morning ceremony at 11:00 a.m.
Brooks and Waller say the project is not about them.
“They did a lot, and they gave their lives for their country," said Brooks.
“This is going to live on now and those 14 names are not lost. We can come out in this beautiful park and look at them whenever we want," said Waller.
GoFundMe and PayPal donations have been set up to raise $3,500 for the project. Any additional money donated will be used to buy flags and flowers for the memorial. Anyone interested can use this link to donate to the project.
Here are the names of the Sixth Ward soldiers:
- Pvt. Michael Deeveil
- Pvt. David K. Donley
- Corp. Landis K. Groff
- Pvt. John Keller
- Pvt. Julius M. Lyons
- Pvt. Frank M. Ruth
- Pvt. J. Harold Snyder
- Pvt. Thomas Deisley
- Pvt. Frank L. Fagan
- S2C. Martin Hurst
- Pvt. Horace N. Kelley
- Sgt. Peter G. Miller
- Corp. Roy H. Shenk
- Charles O. Weitzel