Adams War
Memorial
Honors
Local
Veterans
By Kathy Rudolph
W
hile making a delivery to Rural Valley Borough, Mars resident Paul
Ford noticed the borough was constructing a large war memorial.
Ford thought to himself, “We should have something like that in our area.”
Ford, along with his wife, Mary Jane, decided to make the idea for a
memorial a reality. He approached the board of supervisors at Adams
Township and reaction was positive.
“They have been all for the idea, right from the start,” says Ford. The
township donated land to construct the memorial in Adams Township
Community Park and plans are moving forward.
The memorial will honor fallen and honorably discharged veterans from
Adams Township, Callery Borough, Evans City, Mars Borough, Middlesex
Township and Valencia Borough.
The features of the memorial will include a wall listing local veterans
killed in action, prisoners of war or those missing in action. It will contain
benches, each inscribed with wars from our nation’s history, from the Civil
War to the present-day Global War on Terror. Below each bench, bricks will
make up the memorial floor, inscribed with the names of the honorably
discharged veterans who served in each war. Finally, an American flag, a
Pennsylvania state flag and a POW flag will be displayed.
Ford’s wife took on the task of locating the names of local veterans who
were killed in action, prisoners of war or missing in action.
“Our research involved reading death notices in books written by Buzz
Kelly, president of Valencia Area Historical Society Museum and his
associates,” says Ford. “We did searches on the internet and names were
also provided by Dean McMillen, commander of the American Legion
Post 219 in Evans City. Dave Haunty of Butler County created a traveling
tribute to fallen military heroes who were born in Butler County. He had
all the death notices of the soldiers from Butler County who were killed
from WWII, Vietnam, Korea and the Global War on Terror. This is how
we verified that the names were correct. For the Civil War, we received
names from Bradley Pflugh and Rev. Peter C. deVries, from the Old Union
Presbyterian Church in Mars. Many people helped.”
“I enjoyed working with all who helped and supported this memorial,”
says Ford. “The memorial is not because of me, but because of all of the
good people who worked on it.”
The project was funded by donations from the community. Dedication
of the memorial is planned for Sunday, May 18, in the park. ■
To make a donation for the memorial, visit adamstwp.org.
“This memorial honors all American Veterans
who through their heroism, bravery and loyalty
have fought to preserve freedom for us all. Lest their
valiant efforts and sacrifices never be forgotten.”
40 724.942.0940 to advertise | Mars Area
— Adams War Memorial Inscription