Dedications honor fallen veterans
The Inter-Mountain photos by Brad Johnson Delegate Bill Hartman, D-43rd District, holds up a miniature version of the new sign placed on the overpass spanning Laurel Mountain Road, which has been renamed for U.S. Army SPEC 4 Roger Dale Griffin, a Randolph County native who was killed in the Vietnam War. Hartman gave the miniature sign to Griffin’s family during the dedication ceremony Saturday morning.
The Marine Corps Leagues’ Roger Ware, left, speaks during Saturday’s ceremony, flanked by Rhett Dusenberry, center, from Congressman Alex Mooney’s office, and Delegate Bill Hartman.
The Inter-Mountain photos by Brad Johnson Delegate Bill Hartman, D-43rd District, holds up a miniature version of the new sign placed on the overpass spanning Laurel Mountain Road, which has been renamed for U.S. Army SPEC 4 Roger Dale Griffin, a Randolph County native who was killed in the Vietnam War. Hartman gave the miniature sign to Griffin’s family during the dedication ceremony Saturday morning.
The Marine Corps Leagues’ Roger Ware, left, speaks during Saturday’s ceremony, flanked by Rhett Dusenberry, center, from Congressman Alex Mooney’s office, and Delegate Bill Hartman.
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The Inter-Mountain photos by Brad Johnson
Delegate Bill Hartman, D-43rd District, holds up a miniature version of the new sign placed on the overpass spanning Laurel Mountain Road, which has been renamed for U.S. Army SPEC 4 Roger Dale Griffith, a Randolph County native who was killed in the Vietnam War. Hartman gave the miniature sign to Griffin's family during the dedication ceremony Saturday morning.
The Marine Corps Leagues' Roger Ware, left, speaks during Saturday's ceremony, flanked by Rhett Dusenberry, center, from Congressman Alex Mooney's office, and Delegate Bill Hartman.
ELKINS -- A total of 17 Randolph County military veterans who lost their lives or who were lost in action are being honored by having a local road or bridge named after them.
An overpass spanning Laurel Mountain Road was dedicated for U.S. Army SPEC 4 Roger Dale Griffith Saturday, which brings the list of those remaining to be honored to four. Griffith served as a light infantry weapons soldier in A Company, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division. He was killed on Jan. 4, 1968 when his platoon was attacked.
"It's special for me to do it," said the Marine Corps League's Roger Ware, who has organized these bridge dedications throughout the county. "It's all about the guys we lost and it's nice that there will be something around for them to be remembered for a long, long time. As long as they keep their name in the public, they're never forgotten."
Ware, who spent 28 of his 32 years in the military in the Marine Corps, served with or knew many of those being honored.
"I knew all the guys except for a few and went to school with a majority of them," said Ware, who also served in the Navy for four years. "I felt like it was something appropriate to do, for these guys who fought in combat are always forgotten about. I figured if we had something to remind people in our county, it would bring more remembrance to these guys.
"It also helps the families that lost them start to have some closure and maybe some healing too. That's why we started doing these bridge dedications. It's an ultimate thing that we do and it's appropriate that we do it. It's the highest honor we give after they're deceased and passed on"
Ware said there's a criteria for getting a bridge dedicated within the state of West Virginia. Naming a bridge for someone who was killed in combat is given the highest priority, he said.
"To start the process you have to do the draft up and a resolution, then we contact (Delegate) Bill Hartman," said Ware. "We ask him if he'll send it through and he will take it down to the state when they're in session to run it through and create a bill out of it. It then it goes to the Department of Transportation committee and they will vote on them."
The bridge dedication for U.S. Marine Corps PFC Dennis Warren Baxter at Gum Lick Bridge two weekends ago held a special place in Ware's heart.
"I was in the same unit and with him when he was killed," said Ware. "I had been haunted the past 53 years about Dennis' death, so it was nice to finally have something out there to remember him by."
Ware said he got the idea for the dedications when he was driving outside of West Virginia and saw that other states were honoring veterans with bridges and roads.
"I would be traveling and see other states with bridges named after veterans," he said. "So I thought we should do it back home, We need to give some kudos to Bill Hamilton and Bill Hartman, who is our delegate and has pushed all the bridges from the get-go. He and I got together years ago and came up with a plan for some bridges and some roads.
"I'm just the guy who plans the dedications, it's never about me. All the accolades go to the veterans and that's where the focus should be."