Honoring heroes: Fallen Heroes War Memorial moves forward

By Don Murtha

Seaman First Class Carrol Gale (Ted) Greenfield of Silverton was serving aboard the USS Arizona when a Japanese aircraft bombed the battleship on Dec. 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor. Greenfield is now entombed in the hull of the ship along with more than 1,000 other American servicemen.

Father Richard Carberry of Silverton was an Army Chaplain in the Philippines when he was taken prisoner by the Japanese in 1942. He was killed when the Japanese ship transporting American prisoners to Japan was sunk by an American bomber on Jan. 26, 1945.

Seaman Greenfield and Father Carberry are among 46 Americans killed in war time who will be remembered in a monument to servicemen with a Silverton connection. Each died in service to their country.

“Most men who went into war expected to come back in one piece, but many gave their lives for their country,” said Norm English, president of the Silverton Country Historical Society and leader of a drive to erect a monument to Silverton’s fallen. “This is our way to express our gratitude to those from the Silverton area for their sacrifice.”

English got together with Jack Hande and Ray Hunter to form a committee to establish the Silverton Fallen Heroes War Memorial. The drive has so far been endorsed by the Silverton City Council, six Silverton organizations, 19 individuals and has received 30 donations. The budget for the monument will total about $20,000.

“That is not counting possible overruns,” English said. “So far we have relied on private donations to fund the project and we have about $7,000 in the bank.”

But the effort has not yet sought broad public support.

“Now we want to get the word out to the public that we want to honor Silverton’s victims of war,” English said.

The monument will include five granite pillars set in concrete in Silverton Town Square Park. The location has been endorsed by the Silverton City Council.

The names of the fallen in the six American wars – Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam and Iraq-Afghanistan – will be listed on the monument. The center stone, the largest, will have engraved the symbols of the military services: Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard.

English said the idea for the war memorial started with a scrapbook.

“We keep a (scrapbook) at the (Silverton) Historical Society of victims of war from the Silverton area. Not many people know about it unless they ask for it,” English said. “I was going through it and I wondered if there was any kind of recognition for those men who died and I couldn’t find anything in town.”

With the community’s support, those who lost their lives serving their country will soon get the recognition they deserve.