WAGENER -- The town of Wagener arrived at the Wagener Veterans Park for the unveiling of a monument to hometown heroes.
The new Blue Star Marker Veterans/Heroes' Memorial Monument was displayed in the park with help from Mayor Steve Carver, the Wagener Downtown Development Committee, the 282 D Army Band and the color guard from Fort Jackson, the Edisto Singers, Wagener-Salley High School JROTC, the Wagener Garden Club and representatives of the Garden Club of South Carolina Inc.
Once the monument was revealed, representatives of the Wagener Garden Club and the Garden Club of South Carolina placed a memorial wreath in front of it to honor Wagener's fallen.
"Today we stop and pay tribute to our veterans," Carver said. "It's not about the Wagener Downtown Development Committee or the Town Council - today is all about you. It's because of you we are able to stand here today free people in a free country. As citizens of a free country, we should take every opportunity to thank our veterans and we should make sure we teach our children about the sacrifices our veterans have made for us."
Betty Mathis, GCSC Blue Star Marker chairman for 2007-09, gave a history of the monument program. The symbolism dates back to World War II, when families with soldiers overseas would post a banner with a blue star in their windows; should their soldier be killed in action, the banner would be changed to a gold star.
"At the end of World War II, the National Council of State Garden Clubs was looking for a way to honor our veterans, and they agreed it was better to beautify the nation than to build one big stone monument. Their vision was of lots of living monuments," she said.
"In 1944 a New Jersey garden club planted dogwoods along U.S. 22, and in 1945 it was designated Blue Star Drive. In 1945 the National Council of State Garden Clubs adopted a similar program and created Blue Star highway markers," she continued. "In 1984 a second larger and more descriptive marker was approved, and in 1996 they retired the first marker design and adopted a third marker, the same size and text as the first except with the word 'highway' deleted. This marker was placed in national cemeteries, veterans' medical centers, and anyplace devoted especially to veterans. This is the marker we're dedicating here today."
In addition to the monument dedication, the ceremony also included the presentation of flags of all branches of service, during which veterans of each branch were invited to stand. World War II veteran Mabel Garvin Crawford was presented a bouquet of red roses and honored as Wagener's "Unknown Soldier."
"We recognize her for her work on a top secret mission in World War II. She had to remain silent for 50 years about what she did, until it was declassified," said Carver. "Mabel was one of 250 ladies selected for the mission. They all moved to Washington, D.C., and took over the third floor of William and Mary College - all the windows of the third floor were bricked up so no one could see what they were doing. The task they were given was to intercept and decode communications from the Germans, which they fed back to military leaders to determine our troop movements."
Carver continued, "Mabel told me it was not uncommon for them to go back home and be unable to sleep, the level of stress was so high. Mabel's husband went to his grave not knowing what she did in the war. She is one of only three of those 250 ladies still living, and we're lucky to have her here in Wagener."
Sam Smith presented the Wagener Garden Club with a framed poem he wrote on the Blue Star Marker program's significance and presented the Wagener Museum with the framed funeral flag of a local World War II casualty, Daniel David Jeffcoat. The Wagener-Salley High School's drill team performed at the ceremony, and the Edisto Singers gave a rendition of "Let There Be Peace On Earth."
Refreshments, fellowship and a chance to visit a display of photographs of veterans in uniform in a tent adjacent to the Veterans Park followed the ceremony.
Contact Suzanne Stone at sstone@aikenstandard.com.
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