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A dedication ceremony will be held during Memorial Day services at 1:30 Monday, May 27, at the cemetery.
Among participants will be 8th District Congressman Warren Davidson, R-Troy, and a representative of the Kingdom of Belgium, where many of the Covington service members were directly involved in the fight to liberate the country from the German Army.
Lt. Col. Heidi Libert, a senior officer in the Belgian Armed Forces, will speak and lay a wreath at the monument, Covington Mayor Ed McCord, said.
A flyover by two World War I-era airplanes also is planned.
Spearheading the monument project were David K. Frank, of the Covington class of 1967 and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, and Jay Wacker, a 1961 Covington graduate who served in the Marines in Vietnam.
“We thought it was high time Covington area servicemen who served when their country called should be remembered. They did their part to safeguard our freedom,” said Frank, a lawyer and Powell, Ohio, resident who 18 months ago began researching a book on the military history of Covington.
The project was an outgrowth of that research as he realized there was no monument for those who served. There was, however, a plaque on the front of the old village Armory building listing the names of seven young men who were killed in action. They included Albert B. “A.B.” Cole, for whom the local American Legion Post was named.
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Frank talked with Wackler, who he said, “knows everybody in Covington,” and the project was born. Wackler secured a donation from Armory owner Gary Korte for the bronze plaque to be part of the monument. The Miami Valley Veterans Museum in Troy agreed to serve as the charitable organization project sponsor.
Over a period of months, contributions were sought, and monument plans finalized with the work done by Edwin F. Nickol Inc. of Versailles. Wackler said contributions and in-kind donations, including the cemetery land by Newberry Twp. trustees, totaled around $42,000. He called the response “fabulous.”
“I am just really pleased with people walking down the street who pulled me over and said they appreciated what we were doing. It means a lot for the veterans,” Wackler said.
Every effort was made to identify each person who served, with sources including military records, cemetery records, genealogical records and a publication of Ohio soldiers during the war, Frank said.
In the end, the memorial contains the names of the seven killed along with 294 who served.
The project also has provided an opportunity to educate about World War I and the role locals played. A program including students in the Covington schools was held earlier in May.
“This has been a labor of love, and time consuming, but I have learned so much about my hometown. I want to share it with others including the young people of Covington,” Frank said.
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