Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 6, 1993 TAG: 9306040057
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-9 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WYTHEVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Its monuments bear not only the names of Wythe County war dead but also those of civic leaders and sports figures.
The main speaker at the ceremony was a general who remembered living behind the Iron Curtain in Berlin with his family. He paid tribute to military people whose "grim contest of endurance" ended the Cold War.
"I am not here to glorify war," said Brig. Gen. George A. Landis, now commander of U.S. Army Personnel Information Systems at Alexandria. "War is a political decision. We soldiers have been charged with the responsibility of waging, but not declaring, war."
He said the United States is a "historic oddity" in that it uses its military power to help humankind in natural disasters. But it is also the superpower that prevented tyrants from ruling in places such as Grenada, Panama and Kuwait, he said.
Landis said he hoped there would never have to be another name added to the war memorial.
But he said North Korea remains a threat to its neighbors, perhaps a nuclear threat, 40 years after it was prevented from taking over South Korea. The Warsaw Pact nations lost the Cold War in 1989 but it still is not known what direction their governments will take. And Saddam Hussein still is a problem in the Middle East, he said.
Landis and his wife lived in West Berlin when he was stationed there during the Cold War. "Our children were born behind the wall but lived to see it crumble," he said.
The idea for the Wall of Honor monuments came from Wytheville Vice Mayor Thomas A. Bralley Jr. They were funded by private contributions totaling about $37,000.
Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, recalled that Withers Field was created six decades ago by Robert Withers and James McWane, who provided the property. Now the athletic field has been converted to a public park and used widely by citizens and visitors, he said.
"Sacrifice and preparation and taking the time to care are the commonality in all these monuments," said Del. Thomas Jackson, D-Hillsville. "You can make things better for the community around you just as the people who are memorialized on these monuments."
State Sen. Jack Reasor, D-Bluefield, said those honored on the monuments provided many opportunities for today's citizens. "I think it leaves each of us, you and me alike, to carry those opportunities ahead."
Mayor Trent Crewe called the dedication ceremony "a proud moment in the history of our town and our community."
by CNB