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Preserving The Fredericksburg Area War Memorial Area Veterans Unite to Preserve the Memory of Those Who Were Lost Defending Their Flag and the Principals it Stands For. |
| Presented by: The Fredericksburg Area Veterans Council. |  |
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The FACV consists of representatives from the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Military order of the Purple Heart, the American Legion, the Korean War Veterans Association, the Vietnam Veterans Association and interested members of the community. Our objective is to build a memorial to those fallen patriots to permanently honor their memory.
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| See our War Memorial brochure, NOTE Requires ADOBE reader installed. |
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Memorial History |
| In 1917, as America teetered on the brink of being drawn into a World War, local militia and National Guard units were called
into Federal service. Men of the Fredericksburg community (many serving in the old 2nd and 4th Virginia NG as well as the VA
Coast Artillery) found themselves mustered into service and loaded onto trains on their way to instruction camps.
As the US continued to build the armies necessary for a successful campaign volunteers flocked to recruiters and
a draft was organized to call men of age for service. All had one thing in common, they left their loved ones, their jobs
and homes to go off to France to fight for the principals of freedom and democracy in the War to End All Wars. Fighting on the Western Front was a new experience for our citizens. Modern technology turned the once pastoral countryside of northern France into a lunar landscape of living Hell. Many of the Fredericksburg Citizen Soldiers found them selves in the thick of the action, relieved only the Armistice of November 11, 1918. The horror of war once again crept into our community as some of our fellow citizens fell on the battlefields while others were horribly wounded. Still others (in what today has been recognized as post traumatic syndrome) continued to fight on against demons that most of us could never imagine even in our worst nightmares. As the spring of 1919 broke Fredericksburg's Doughboys were finally on their way home, back to their loved ones, back to take up where they had left off and get on with their lives. July of 1919 saw the City of Fredericksburg throwing a celebration in honor of her citizens that took up the gauntlet and went Over There. However the citizens of our community also sought a way to forever remember those who had not returned. A war memorial committee was formed, consisting of citizens and veterans, with the object of building a suitable monument. Plans were made, donations accepted, a location sought for the memorial. By 1926 the project neared completion. The War Memorial Committee reported to the City Council that donations has reached a modest $1700. The design selected consisted of a granite monument upon which a flagpole was to be erected. On the face of the granite base a bronze plaque would be mounted with the names of those from the area who had perished in the Great War. This list of the fallen would become Fredericksburg's WWI Role of Honor. In addition a Sentinel was obtained from the government through action of a local citizens organization. The captured German cannon would be placed in front of the memorial to symbolically guard the hallowed site. |
| The site selected was in a small triangle of land located at George St. in front of the Maury School. With construction complete, the Fredericksburg World War Memorial was dedicated on Memorial Day, 1926 in a solemn ceremony. The monument was to stand in perpetuity to honor those who had been sacrificed in the War to End all Wars. |
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So the site remained as a memorial to those who sacrificed their lives until once again, our nation was in peril. For the second time in less than 25 years Germany was on the march through Europe, invading it's neighbors. However, this time Hitler and his thugs were joined by the imperial war machine of the Emperor of Japan who sought to conquer their neighbors in the Pacific. |
| After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor the US frantically shifted into an all out effort to bring it's industry into a wartime footing. Not only did we need the tools to build and equip our military but we found ourselves in the position of providing arms and equipment to aid our failing Allies. In support of the all out effort to win the war, the German gun , which had stood sentinel before the monument, was scrapped. The correspondence at the time recommended the action so that "it would be melted down and turned back into bullets to be shot back at the Germans". The wisdom of scrapping this integral part of the original memorial is a matter of debate. However, you must put your self in the mind set of our citizens as the daily news glommed with one set back after another in that long summer of 1942. The German cannon, along with many many other items that today would be considered rare antiques was loaded on a flatcar and sent off to be melted down. |
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The War Memorial Sentinel Cannon on its way to the scrap pile, 1942. Notice the cannon balls in the box next to the gun. Who knows what other historic artifacts were lost during the all out effort to win World War Two. (Click on photo for larger picture) |
| The monument remained with out a sentinel until 1962 when the local American Legion Post (Bowen Franklin Knox, Post #55) began a search for another cannon. A WW2 twin 40mm Anti Aircraft cannon on its original ship mount was obtained from the USMC Museum at Quantico Virginia to serve as a replacement for the sentinel scrapped during WW2. The gun was mounted at the site through the action of local volunteers and the memorial rededicated on Veteran's Day, 1962. Click for original Free Lance Star article. |
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| By 1996 the monument, the flagpole and the sentinel which
stood silent vigil over the names of the honored dead remained
undisturbed for over 34 years. However, it had fallen into disrepair due to neglect and vandalism. The City Council resolved to
restore the monument, fix the flagpole so that flags could be flown on occasion and to replace the 40mm sentinel with
another gun, more appropriately identified to WWI. At that time there was an amendment to remove the 40mm immediately due
to its condition and the fact that it may pose a liability should some child fall from the structure. In the ensuing two years another concern came forward seeking to establish a memorial to volunteers in the community. This project seemed to planners on the City staff as "just right" for the site where the WWI memorial rested. So a plan was established to remove the WWI memorial, do away with the idea of a cannon altogether and replace it with a fountain and a sundial dedicated to the area volunteers that gave their time for public service. City council took the hook and without adequate consultation with the local veteran's community, much less with many of the citizens of the area, and passed on the idea. Nothing was done until just before Veterans Day 1998. One afternoon a local company (who had been told that they could have the AA gun if they came in and hauled it off) dropped by and removed it from its mount loaded it on a truck and took it off. Suddenly articles began to appear in the Letters to the Editor's section of our local newspaper The Freelance Star, asking Where's the Gun? When the general public, and local Veterans began to realize that the AA gun had been removed and there were changes planned for the memorial, public opposition became substantial. Numerous letters to the Editor were written, petitions began to circulate, individuals began to show up at City Council meetings to speak their opposition. More importantly Veterans groups began to join together in a unified effort to save the memorial. |
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This "Jones" cartoon appearing in the our local newspaper the
The Freelance Star reflected the sudden reconsideration by the Fredericksburg
City Council.
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| Responding to pressure from the public outcry, our
City Fathers reversed their position of replacing the existing memorial
and took the stand to not only restore the Memorial and replace the AA Gun but to improve the over all design to include the fallen
from other eras. The Fredericksburg City Council requested that local veterans provide input for the new design of the site. City Councilman Dr. GeorgeVan Sante (a Korean War Veteran himself) volunteered his services as liaison to help with this effort. At this point it appears that our grass roots effort is on the road to success. The local veteran's organizations including the Am. Legion, VFW, Military Order of the Purple Heart, DAV, AMVETS, Vietnam Veterans of America as well as other concerned citizens have formed a coalition under the heading of the Fredericksburg Area Veteran's Council. Our objective is to restore and in fact enhance the memorial to include not only the WWI dead but to expand the scope to honor the fallen from other eras. In cooperation with the City our plan is to build a permanent memorial which will be a fitting tribute to all the men and women who have fought and sacrificed for the principals of liberty and democracy that we all enjoy today.
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| Glenn Hyatt, hyattg@pop.erols.com
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