New granite panels installed at Harrison World War II memorial, rededication scheduled

New granite slabs making up the rejuvenated Harrison Honor Roll memorial have been installed, years after efforts to preserve and restore the memorial recognizing the township’s World War II veterans began.

“It’s been a long time,” Bill Rudolph, a member of the memorial’s restoration committee, said as he watched the first slab put into place in the memorial at Freeport and Springhill roads Wednesday morning. “It’s a relief to see it going on.”

A rededication ceremony is planned for 1 p.m. Oct. 29, the 75th anniversary of the memorial’s original dedication in 1945.

Ten slabs of black granite — 2-inches thick and weighing between 650 and nearly 900 pounds each — are replacing the memorial’s original glass panels, upon which the names of nearly 2,000 service members were painted. Those panels had cracked, and the names were fading and flaking off to the point some were nearly unrecognizable.

The granite was quarried in India. The laser engraving was done at Clarion Monuments in Clarion. The company also handled the installation, which started on Wednesday and finished Thursday.

Getting the granite usually takes three to four months, Clarion Monuments owner Steve Aaron said. Because the covid-19 pandemic caused factories to shut down or operate with reduced crews, getting the granite for the Harrison memorial took eight months, he said.

That scuttled the memorial committee’s original hope for a Memorial Day rededication.

Engraving each panel took 24 hours, Aaron said.

The memorial now comprises 1,942 names. That includes 72 that were either newly added or had misspellings corrected, Rudolph said.

While Rudolph said some nostalgia is lost with the removal of the original glass panels, “The names are going to be much clear now,” he said.

“You hate to take out something that old,” he said. But, “It didn’t make sense to refurbish it again.”

Aaron said it was his idea to engrave collages of imagery from historical photos on the panels at the memorial’s outer edges. He said he did the best he could to represent land, sea and air, and all theaters of the war.

“We find when we add scenic collages from those periods, it generates a lot more interest,” he said. “It helps them to learn more and have respect.”

Underneath the images are quotes that are found at the national World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. One attributed to Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, says, “They fought together as brothers-in-arms. They died together and now they sleep side by side. To them we have an obligation.”

Two black granite benches will be placed at the memorial, Rudolph said. One will be dedicated to Clayton Falkner, who championed the memorial’s restoration and died in June at the age of 84.

Work at the memorial is not finished and will continue next year, Rudolph said.

The next phase of the memorial’s restoration will include adding a new entry, parking spaces and landscaping, Rudolph said. The committee wants to replace the flagpole and add new lighting.

Donations are still needed to help pay for the work.