While segments of American society remain at war with the past and act out their faux angst by tearing down monuments and attempting to expunge names from the historical record, the legacy of two World War II veterans from Union County lives on. The magnificent brass and granite monument that the pair doggedly pursued and dedicated to all the veterans from this central Pennsylvania county stands as their testament.
The Union County Honor Roll Memorial is an impressive tribute and deservedly so. It is dedicated to the county’s 2,260 World War II veterans. Flags of the five military branches stand guard of the six-paneled monument that has the legion of the county’s World War II veteran’s inscribed upon it. A smaller bronze panel was added after its initial construction as family members came forward with verified records of their loved one’s service. The monument and its pillars at each end honor those who served in Korea, Vietnam, the USS Cole, and the War on Terror.
The memorial’s humble beginnings stem from the basic human aspiration to honor the most stirring dimensions of the past with piety and gratitude. The original monument found its home next to the Federal building in Lewisburg, the county seat, and was constructed of wood but would eventually fall into disrepair and was eventually torn down.
Not wanting the service and sacrifices of those veterans to follow the same route as the wooden monument that honored them, Drew Machamer, a World War II Army Air Corps veteran, enlisted the help of his friend Al Hess, a World War II Navy veteran, to oversee creating a more permanent memorial.
Being Lewisburg natives, they believed the monument belonged there – the county seat. The Lewisburg Borough Council however could not be satisfied with any of their proposals. Enter Hess’s son-in-law, Doug Walter, who had been observing the ongoing attempts and suggested to the men whom he affectionately calls the “dynamic duo” to approach the nearby Mifflinburg Borough Council about establishing the monument there. Without any fanfare, the proposal was approved at their first meeting.
Machamer passed away two years after the monument was completed, while Hess passed away last year.
The monument stands in the Mifflinburg Community Park and was dedicated on November 3, 2003, and remains the site of the county’s yearly Veteran’s Day program where on Saturday, November 4, 2023, at 11 a.m., Dave Jones, a Navy veteran and former Standard Journal columnist who now presides over the Watsontown Baptist Church as co-minister, will give the keynote address. Gold Star families, Nazarene Church Singers, Shikellamy JROTC, Union County 4-H, Rosie the Riveter, Children of the American Revolution, will also be on hand with the Girl, Cub, and Boy Scouts of America who will lead the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by a roll call of the 52 that did not come home and conclude with the playing of Taps. In case of inclement weather: Nazarene Church in Mifflinburg.
Shortly after the monument’s unveiling 20-years ago, the veteran’s benefit fund was established with Walter and his wife Tracy overseeing the foundation that maintains the monument and the grounds. Moreover, the veteran’s home in Hollidaysburg has also benefited from the donations. “This event not only honors our heroes, but we are able to do something tangible to help them. Mifflinburg is where every day is Veteran’s Day,” exclaimed Walter.
The monument has its own Facebook page: Union County WW2 Honor Roll – Mifflinburg PA that not only informs but is the prime generator in raising donations for upkeep and the Hollidaysburg veteran’s home.
Bricks are also available for purchase along the site’s “memorial walkway.” George Ramer a U.S. Marine Second Lieutenant, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in Korea and the only Union County resident to earn such an honor, was also a World War II veteran whose name can be found on the brick walkway.
The Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. may be the most visited monument in the nation with nearly six million visitors annually, which is closely followed by the Rio Grande River in Texas. However, without argument, the most visited monument in central Pennsylvania’s Union County is The Union County Honor Roll Memorial.
It awaits your acquaintance next Saturday.
