Karns City honor roll dedicated in solemn ceremony
KARNS CITY — Clergy members called for prayers for military veterans, men and women in active service, and their families on Veterans Day during the dedication of a new veterans memorial.
About 50 residents, local officials and members of the clergy attended the ceremony to dedicate the Karns City Area Veterans Honor Roll adjacent to the Karns City borough building on Main Street.
Mayor Janet Gibson said it has taken many years to bring the monument to fruition.
The honor roll stands 8 feet tall and features six round bronze plaques commemorating each branch of the U.S. armed forces. The monument is dedicated to all Karns City area veterans, but does not list any names.
The Rev. Joseph Boomhower, of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church of Chicora, prayed for deceased veterans to be blessed for the sacrifices and hardships they endured, for living veterans haunted by memories of their service and for active service members in harm’s way.
H. Jack Buzard, a Vietnam veteran and commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7073 in Parker, said everyone who had a hand in the honor roll project should be proud of their accomplishment.
Any man or woman who served in any branch of the military during times of war or peace are distinguished, but “some gave all.”
“Some gave all” was something he said he heard while he served in the Army’s mortuary in Vietnam.
“All were distinguished, but some gave everything,” Buzard said.
He also shared a historical adage.
“America is great because she is still good. When she ceases to be good, she will no longer be great,” Buzard said.
Chris Hile, of Hile Funeral Home in Karns City, who was thanked by many for helping with the memorial project, said he found a copy of a letter a mother wrote to her deceased son and left in 1990 at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., when she went to see his name on the wall before she died.
The woman wrote that she brought the first sweater he wore, and that she loved and missed him and was looking forward to seeing him again.
Bishop Alan Ion, of Karns City Church of God of Prophecy, said there are 345 Gold Star families in Butler County from World War I to now.
“All of us are Gold Star families because they died for us,” Ion said.
In a prayer, he asked everyone to remember those who served, Gold Star families, current service members and prisoners of war.
Leslie Osche, county commissioners chairwoman, wasn’t among the scheduled speakers, but was asked to address the audience.
She said she was grateful for the invitation to attend the ceremony and that the new monument made Veterans Day special. She commended Hile and borough officials for the project.
“This was really extra special and worth the drive to Karns City,” Osche said.
Council President Virgil Cousins said his grandmother raised 11 children and five of them served in World War II.
He said another family in the borough had all six children serving in WWII at the same time, and all returned home without injury. He thanked all borough residents who served in the military.
His son and council Vice President Keith Cousins, who served in the Navy, said council started thinking about honoring borough veterans about 10 years ago, and his dad placed him in charge of the effort.
He said he looked into placing Hometown Hero banners on utility poles, but that didn’t work out, so he turned his attention to an honor roll, and he went to Hile with the idea.
Benches have been installed and the next steps will be to install lighting and a flagpole, he said.
