By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Vietnam War veteran Jim Kiernan never misses a Veterans Day program on the grounds of the Wood County Courthouse.
“I come to honor those who have served,” Kiernan, of Bowling Green, said during Wednesday’s veterans remembrance.
Kiernan can be found near the veterans memorial area in front of the courthouse many days of the year.
“I make it a point to come here nearly every day to drink my coffee and read my paper,” he said.
This year, the monuments have been removed from the courthouse lawn in order to be refurbished and replaced.
“All the monuments had the names on them, and they are gone right now,” said David Ridenour, of the Bowling Green American Legion Post. Since the names of those killed in war were absent this year, all 844 were read aloud.
The bulk of those who lost their lives in battle were from the Civil War era. A total of 524 soldiers from Wood County were killed in the war that divided the nation.
At the time, Wood County’s population was 17,886. Approximately 2,456 served in the Civil War. That was a huge portion of the fighting age male population in many county communities, Ridenour said.
“About 75 to 100% of those went off war, and a fifth of those didn’t return,” he said.
Civil War reenactors representing the 14th Ohio Volunteer Infantry attended Wednesday’s service.
Though more than 150 years ago, the lessons of that war are still very important today, said Joseph Dowd, one of the reenactors.
“The Civil War was really important to shaping how our nation is today,” he said.
“As we move further away from the Civil War, a lot of people became numb to the fact of the county losing more than 500 men,” Dowd said. In one day, the entire male population of a town could be wiped out in battle, he stressed.
Kathy Dowd, agreed the lessons of the Civil War are still relevant now.
“We can always learn from the past. In the current scheme of things it’s important to remember people who died for our freedoms,” she said. “Everyone had a life and families. We need to remember the men and women who came before.”
Also attending Wednesday’s service was Clif Boutelle, of Bowling Green.
“I’m here to support the veterans who are here,” he said. “They don’t receive the recognition or the thanks they deserve.”
The list of other veterans from Wood County who gave their lives includes one from the Spanish American War, 62 in WWI, 192 in WWII, 16 in the Korean War, 34 in Vietnam, four in the Persian Gulf Wars, and 10 others who died in service during the Cold War and in other than armed conflict.
The list of 844 war casualties was read by Mary Hanna, Tom Rucker, Vern Hansen, John Fawcett, Becky Dettmer, Joel Burg, Greg Robinette, Joe Fawcett, Nick Zeedyk, and Jane Ridenour.
Special recognition was given to the late Richard Conrad for his extensive research in identifying all those from the county who served in the Civil War. Joe Boyle, Rob Eaton, Harold Brown, Dick Juergens, and David Ridenour contributed to the verification and identification of the names from the other eras.
