The Select Board’s June 24 meeting agenda included an item to dissolve the War Monument Restoration Committee, as it appeared to the board that the committee’s charge had been fulfilled. But after private discussions with committee Chair Jon Schoenberg and member Stu Sklar, Select Board members were convinced that there was more work to be done and voted unanimously to take no action on dissolving the committee.
The War Monument Restoration Committee was formed in 2016 for the purpose of restoring or creating monuments to honor Harvard citizens who served in the military from the Spanish-American War to the present. In 2018, the restoration of the World War I monument on the southwest corner of the Common, which included a new granite midsection, refurbished brass plaques, and a repainted flagpole, was dedicated during a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended that war.
In 2021, work on the memorial on the southeast corner of the Common was completed. It included updates to the World War II, Korean, and Vietnam war memorial stones, as well as the addition of two new memorial stones—one bearing the names of the Harvard residents who served in World War II, the other listing the names of those who served in the Korean, Vietnam, and Gulf wars.
The committee’s last meeting was in October, 2021, but Schoenberg told the Press that the work remaining under the committee’s charter includes developing a memorial for Army Pvt. Lucius Chilson Barry, a Harvard man who died in service during the Spanish-American War.
Lucius grew up in Harvard, and was studying architecture at Syracuse University. When the Spanish-American War began in April of 1898, Barry left school to join the Army. He was stationed in Virginia and became a victim of the typhoid fever epidemic that spread throughout the camp that summer. He died in a Virginia hospital on Aug. 31,1898, two weeks after the U.S. and Spain signed a peace protocol ending the conflict.
The committee also has more names to add to the honor rolls of WWII, Korean, Vietnam, and Gulf war era veterans. “Much of our restoration work and research occurred during the pandemic, and as a result we unfortunately missed some veterans from the honor rolls,” Schoenberg said.
Select Board Chair Kara Minar said that after discussions with committee members, it was clear the committee is still doing valuable work, and there was no reason to dissolve it. Member SusanMary Redinger said she loved hearing about the committee’s new plans, and she was “remiss for not looking into that” before putting the item on the board’s agenda.
The application and eligibility requirements to have a name added to one of the war memorial honor rolls is on the War Monument Restoration Committee webpage of the town website.
