MORGANTOWN — The centerpiece of Granville Veterans Memorial Park — a memorial honoring Granville’s sons and daughters who signed up to earn and protect America’s freedom — received its finishing touches just in time for Memorial Day.
A soldier and a battlefield cross, both carved out of blocks of solid granite, now flank the center section, a wall with the names of Granville’s veterans and the logos of the branches of the armed forces in which they served. A crane placed the wall last December, 72-year-old Wilbur England, a Navy veteran, said.
“I’m extremely proud of how it turned out,” England said. “It’s just something that I put my heart into, really.”
England said the monument took about 200 hours of work, involving finding veterans, researching materials, helping design the memorial and asking the town’s council for funds.
The project cost about $80,000 and was paid for by the town of Granville.
“It shows that the people of Granville still care about the people that gave us our freedoms,” England said.
In his research, England discovered several Granville residents who fought in the Revolutionary War. Yes, Granville was Granville back then before it was Mona and before it went back to being Granville, England said.
England found 225 Granville residents who served in the armed forces and are now engraved on the memorial.
“For a small town, that’s a lot of people. Granville used to be a coal-mining town. A lot of names were coal miners,” England said. “When I stand here, I look at these names and I know a lot of them.”
One of the names England knows is John Africano, who is engraved just above his brother, Sullivan. Next to Sullivan’s name is a star — meaning he was killed in action.
This is the third time England has helped design a veterans memorial, and he said his goal this time was durability. He wanted something that would last, and he settled on granite with the help of Jason Smith, owner of Smith Funeral and Cremation Care in Westover. Smith said granite is one of the most durable and longest-lasting materials.
“We fully realize that is something that’s going to be in that town way longer than I’ll probably be alive,” Smith said.
WDean@DominionPost.com
Twitter @WillDean_DP
