More names added to Floyd County veterans monument

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com 

Forty-six more names have been added to the rolls of honor on the Floyd County Veterans Memorial.

Lee Kennedy, of Lewiston Monument Co. in Lewiston, Minnesota, spent much of the day Thursday, Oct. 26, preparing the stones then cutting names into two of the 14 granite pillars standing sentinel in the memorial on the county courthouse lawn.

Kennedy said he has cut all the names on the pillars, adding more each year for the last 11 years.

Lewiston Monument was the company that originally installed the memorial, and in 2011 it added four additional obelisks to the original 10 when the memorial ran out of space for names.

There are about 375 spaces left after the latest names were added, Kennedy said.

The names to be engraved are cut into thick rubber stencils at the monument company, then adhered to the smooth marble to provide a template for Kennedy to sandblast the letters. After the names are cut he applies a whitener to make the letters stand out, he said.

There are now a total of 2,054 names on the monument, according to memorial committee member Dan Squire. The names represent veterans, living and deceased, with a connection to Floyd County.

Art White, another memorial committee member, said the names do not include service or service rank.

“All the veterans are equal here,” he said, although he noted that those who died while in the service are designated with stars by their name.

A weatherproof guide at the memorial site organizes the names alphabetically and lists the stone, the side and the line where each name is located

Veterans or their families can contact the Floyd County Memorial Committee to have names added to the stones. The committee asks a minimum $100 per name donation to pay engraving costs and for monument maintenance, although the donation can be waived in hardship cases. Proof of service membership is also required. The names of veterans who died while serving are added free.

More information is available at the county website,www.floydcoia.org, under County Services then Veteran Affairs.

These are the names that were added this year:

Charles City — Louis Robert Logan, Larry L. Logan, Rodney J. Logan, Bernard H. Greenzweig, Abner Root, Martin J. Jones, Matthias F. Frein, Paul L. Reese, Charles Miller Ellis, Ron P. Flick, Ronald E. Mead, Thomas Orville Johnson, Sherron Eldon Ploeger, Wallace “Wally” Ritter, Virgil J. Severin, Dennis W. Boggess, Kenneth D. Boggess, David A. Lensing, Erwin Larson, Harold Reger Kirkham, Arthur A. Ernst, Lyle Henry Koehler, Dennis T. Koehler, Scott Alan Koehler, Tim Speas, James M. Tupy, Gary F. Quint, Robert J. Mondt, April Vivian Banks, Marty Joe Banks, John G. Bean, Pamela S. Amos (Brakel), Daniel L. Amos, Jacob D. Amos.

Colwell — Raymond Lyle Boyer.

Nashua — Eldon L. Parker, Ray W. Buchholz, Charles R. Swinton.

Nora Springs — Michael J. Anderson.

Rockford — Russell D. Kornegor, Larry L. Hall, Edward H. Linderkamp, Maureen I. Ruane.

Rudd — Bernard L. Smith, Curtis “Tony” Kuhlemeier, Ray Shuler.