The Greene County Legacy Association will unveil the new Greene County World War I Memorial during a dedication ceremony on Veterans Day, Sunday, Nov. 11, at 11 a.m.
Media members and the general public are invited to attend the event, which will be held at the site of the memorial, located at 918 Rolling Meadows Road in Waynesburg.
The memorial will honor Greene County’s 58 hometown heroes who lost their lives during WWI as well as the more than 1,000 other Greene County veterans who served in the war.
Waynesburg University President Douglas G. Lee will provide the keynote address, and Major General Bruce E. Hackett, Commanding General of the 80th Training Command, will provide “A Perspective of Honor and Remembrance from High Command.”
Other speakers include: Doug Wilson, WANB radio host; Glenn Toothman, president of the Greene County Legacy Association; Candice Buchanan, certified genealogist and secretary for the Greene County Legacy Association; and Murielle Le Du, a member of the Greene County Legacy Committee.
The names of the 58 fallen will be read and a 21 gun salute by the Greene County Veterans Council will honor them. Family members of the WWI veterans will be present at the ceremony.
Following is an excerpt from the book, “Our Fallen 58,” by Toothman and Buchanan, which provides historical information on Greene County’s WWI involvement:
"From its rolling hills where sheep flourished in its day, to its small-town bricked roads, Greene County, Pennsylvania, parted with over 1,000 soldiers and civilian volunteers who pledged to fight for freedom and democracy abroad and left home for the Great War.
"The National Guard Armory in the county seat of Waynesburg brought the reality of war to town swiftly, as they were fast recruiting and training over 150 local boys, many with ties to Waynesburg College, who became a part of Company K, 110th Infantry, 28th Division. Marched off to training before the end of the Summer of 1917, other soldiers soon followed them, spreading Greene County's citizenry across the many Commands of the American Expeditionary Forces.
"On July 18, 1918, at Vierzy, France, Joesph Horner Bissett, fighting with the 2nd Division, became the first Greene County soldier to fall in battle. Ten days later, between July 28 and 29, 1918, the community sustained the largest loss of life in a single battle ever in its military history, when 18 of the hometown Company K soldiers were killed or mortally wounded in the Battle of Grimpettes Woods near the villages of Fresnes-en-Tardenois, Cierges, Courmont, and Roncheres, France.
"By war's end, Greene County, Pennsylvania, mourned 58 fallen heroes."
For more information, contact Toothman at 412-559-0537 or gtoothman@gmail.com.
Founded in 1849 by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Waynesburg University is located on a traditional campus in the hills of southwestern Pennsylvania, with three additional sites located in the Pittsburgh region. The University is one of only 22 Bonner Scholar schools in the country, offering local, regional and international opportunities to touch the lives of others through service.
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Ashley Wise, Director of University Relations
724.852.7675 or awise@waynesburg.edu
