Deep River honors veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam with honor rolls in a park.
Veterans Memorial Green, at the intersection of Main Street (Route 154) and Essex Street, features an allegorical figure representing the United States and an honor roll listing Deep River residents who served in World War II.
Panels added in 1990 honor residents who served in Korea and Vietnam.
White bricks in the plaza in front of the memorial honor the 14 residents killed in World War II and one lost in Vietnam.
A sign near the memorial explains the Columbia honor roll was created by C.D. Batchelor, an editorial cartoonist and painter who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1937. Batchelor, a Deep River resident, worked at the New York Daily News for many years.
The honor roll, dedicated in 1943, originally stood in front of Deep River’s Public Library. The memorial was moved to its present location in 1969.
The park was renovated in 1994 and renamed Veterans Memorial Green.
Deep River’s World War I monument also stands on the green. The memorial, a boulder topped by a bronze eagle, was dedicated in 1923.
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Colchester honors the service of its Civil War veterans with an 1875 monument on the town green.
The town’s Union monument stands near the northern end of the green, just south of where Main Street (Route 85) meets Hayward Avenue and Lebanon Avenue (Route 16).
A dedication on the granite monument’s front (south) face reads, “Colchester honors its dead who fell in the War for the Union, 1861-5.”
The south face also features a shield with the United States and Connecticut emblems, and an inscription reading, “Not ours but the nation’s.”
The east and west faces both bear honor rolls listing a total of 44 residents who died in the Civil War. The south faces lists the dedication date of September 17, 1875 (the anniversary of the Battle of Antietam).
The monument’s decorative elements include arches on the four faces as well as carved cannons in the corners of its base.
The figure atop the monument is, unusual among Connecticut’s Civil War memorials, depicted looking down instead of forward. The figure, holding his hat waist-high, perhaps appears to be mourning his fallen colleagues. The figure’s left foot extends slightly beyond the monument’s base.
The monument is the work of sculptor George E. Bissell, a Civil War veterans who also created elaborate monuments in Winchester, Salisbury and Waterbury.
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Colchester remembers veterans of the 20th Century wars with three memorials at the northern end of the town green.
Memorials near the intersection of Lebanon Avenue (Route 16) with Hayward Avenue and Broadway (Route 85) honor veterans of the two World Wars, Korea and Vietnam.
Colchester’s World War monument features a bronze eagle atop a rough granite block. A dedication plaque on the monument’s southeast face bears the simple message “Colchester remembers” along with “World War” and 1917-1918.
Under the dedication, the plaque lists two columns of names of World War I veterans, and honors four who were list in the conflict.
The monument also features the U.S., Connecticut and Colchester seals.
Next to the World War memorial, a 1952 granite monument honors veterans of World War II and Korea. The monument’s southeast face bears a dedication reading:
“This memorial was erected in honor of those men and women of Colchester who served their country in time of need. They sought not personal glory, but the preservation of liberty and freedom.
“They fought against aggression, Communism, and the enslavement of people so that a government of the people, for the people and by the people shall not perish.”
Panels on the monument’s southeast face honor 11 Colchester residents killed in World War II.
Honor roll panels on the monument’s northwest face honor residents who served in World War II and Korea.
A little further north on the green, Colchester honors its Vietnam veterans with a black and gray striped granite memorial that was dedicated in 1983.
The monument lists five residents who were killed in the conflict, and bears a dedication asking us to “remember these men of Colchester whose lives were sacrificed in Vietnam 1964-1975.”
Also near the monuments, a flagpole dedicated in 1998 by the local VFW post honors Colchester’s veterans.
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The former store in which colonial governor Jonathan Trumbull held more than 1,100 planning meetings during the American Revolution stands on Lebanon’s green.
Known today as the War Office, the building was built around 1727 as the Trumbull family store. The store, which has been moved three times, originally stood along Exeter Road (Route 207).
The War Office, donated to the Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution in 1891, has stood on in its West Town Road location since 1844.
The building is identified by a plaque mounted on a boulder in 1932 as part of Washington bicentennial celebrations.
As the American Revolution broke out, the state’s General Assembly formed a Council of Safety to coordinate efforts to recruit and supply Continental troops. The council met in the Trumbull store building throughout the war, with attendees including George Washington, Israel Putnam, Marquis de Lafayette and other notables of the day.
Trumbull’s mercantile experience was helpful in ordering and delivering supplies to the troops, and Connecticut was known as the “Provision State.”
The War Office is open to the public on weekend afternoons between Memorial Day and Labor Day, as well for other events.
A short walk south of the War Office stands the Trumbull family home, which is operated as a museum by the Connecticut Daughters of the American Revolution.
The War Office’s original location on Route 207, around the corner from the Trumbull home is marked by a 1932 plaque mounted on a boulder.
Jonathan Trumbull is also honored with a statue in his namesake town of Trumbull.
Tags: Lebanon
Lebanon honors its war veterans with several monuments on the green near the intersection of Exeter Road (Route 207) and Norwich-Hartford Turnpike (Route 87).
Near the northern end of the green, in front of Town Hall, is a 1922 monument honoring veterans of five wars between the American Revolution and the First World War.
The monument features a stone cairn, serving as a flagpole base, with bronze plaques on the cairn’s four sides honoring local veterans.
The north face of the monument features a plaque with a scene depicting soldiers from the American Revolution, Civil War and World War I marching together under an American flag.
The west face of the monument bears a plaque honoring those who served during the “Period of the World War” (the reference to war “periods” is uncommon among the state’s war memorials).
The plaque reads, “In commemoration of the boys who served in the World War. Not unmindful of their heritage, the mantle of their forefathers fell upon patriotic shoulders. They acquitted themselves with honor and loyalty, cheerfully accepting the sacrifices placed upon them in performance of their duty on land and sea. With no selfish end, they served that the principle of right might be established throughout the world.”
The south face of the monument bears a plaque that, along with the years of the Civil War, includes a dedication “…to the memory of our Civil War veterans, who so promptly and willingly responded to the nation’s call, serving in eleven different regiments and participating in over a hundred different battles; and to our illustrious and renowned second war governor, William Buckingham, who was born and spent his early life in Lebanon. He performed efficient service in the nation’s peril, and was a worthy successor of Connecticut’s first war governor.”
The lower section of the south plaque also commemorates veterans of the 1898 Spanish-American War with a dedication reading, “In honor of those who served in the Spanish War, assisting an oppressed people to achieve their independence.”
The east face honors Lebanon’s many contributions to the American Revolution as well as the War of 1812. The dedication in the American Revolution section reads, “In memoriam to our fathers who fought for justice and liberty.
“When the war broke out, this town contributed the one loyal governor, brother Jonathan Trumbull, who among all the governors of the thirteen colonies, was the only one who stood staunch and true to the American cause. Washington relied on him in the most trying circumstances.
“William Williams, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was born in Lebanon, the home of the Council of Safety.
“We take a just pride in the noble achievements of our men who served in the Revolution. They were eminently God-fearing and true patriots.”
The east face also has a dedication honoring veterans of the War of 1812: “Revered is the memory of those who participated in the War of 1812, who with honor and loyalty fulfilled the trust dedicated to them by their forefathers.”
The plaques were designed by sculptor Bruce Wilder Saville, whose other works included war memorials in Massachusetts, New York and Ohio. The monument was built by a local mason.
Nearby Monuments
An undated memorial near the northeast corner of the green honors Lebanon’s veterans of the two World Wars. The World War I section lists 40 names and honors one resident who was killed. The World War II section lists about 135 names and honors seven who were killed.
A 2002 memorial near the northwest corner of the green honors veterans of recent conflicts including Korea, Vietnam, Lebanon, Granada, Panama, Persian Gulf, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia and Afghanistan.
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Derby honors World War II veterans from its East Derby section with a monument at the corner of Main Street (Route 34) and Derby Avenue (Route 115).
The undated monument and flagpole base, alongside the Naugatuck River and Route 8, features an engraved eagle and dedication on its front (western) face reading, “Dedicated to the memory of these men who gave their lives in World War II,” above 10 names.
The monument further honors the men and women of East Derby who served in the Second World War.
The monument isn’t dated, but we found a reference to the state moving utility poles in 1960 to improve its visibility.
The East Derby monument is a short walk from monuments honoring the wartime service of people who worked in the former Farrel Corp. factory, which stood on today’s Home Depot site.
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Connecticut’s first cemetery for veterans was one of several in the state decorated as part of the Wreaths Across America project.
The national project, which started in 1992 with the laying of 5,000 donated wreaths in Arlington National Cemetery, includes 46 cemeteries and war memorials in Connecticut.
The veterans’ section in Darien’s Spring Grove Cemetery was established after the Civil War along with the Fitch Home for Veterans and Their Orphans. The home was the first such facility for veterans when it opened in 1864, and was financed by wealthy businessman Benjamin Fitch (who helped sponsor a Civil War regiment and promised to care for volunteers).
The cemetery is the final resting place for 2,184 veterans.
A four-sided monument, dedicated in 1936, stands at the base of a flagpole. The sculpture, by Karl Lang, features figures representing veterans from the Civil War, the Spanish-American War and World War I.
The landscaping fabric surrounding the flagpole is part of a restoration and replanting effort launched earlier this year.
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Chester honors veterans of the conflicts after World War I with monuments in a small park at the intersection of Middlesex Turnpike (Route 154) and Railroad Avenue.
Chester’s World War I monument, dedicated in 1939, features a granite doughboy figure atop a monument listing local veterans. A central panel bears a dedication reading, “In honor of the men of Chester who served in the World War 1917-1918.”
The central panel lists two columns of names, and highlights three residents killed in the conflict. The list of names is flanked by representations of a nurse and a sailor.
A granite monument dedicated in 2004 honors Chester residents who served in World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the post-Vietnam conflicts.
Starting at the left side of the monument, more than four columns of World War II veterans are listed along with veterans of the more recent wars. Collectively, the monument’s panels have just under 400 names.
The central panel bears a dedication reading, “There was a time when the world asked ordinary people to do extraordinary things. To the men and women of Chester who served our country.”
The central panel also features five service emblems and representations of two soldiers.
The monument is topped with an eagle and globe that were added in June of 2010.
Between the two monuments, a granite marker at the foot of a flagpole lists 10 residents killed in World War II and further honors the service of Chester’s Korea veterans.
The World War I monument was donated by Chester native Carlton J. Bates, the founder of the C.J. Bates Co. The Bates company, which had factories in Chester and New Haven, manufactured manicure sets, crochet hooks and knitting needles.
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Preston honors service in the Civil War and World War I with a large monument on Jewett City Road (Route 164).
The 1898 Soldiers’ Monument, which also marks the birthplace of American Revolution general Samuel Mott, stands in front of the former town library building just south of the intersection of Route 164 with Shetucket Turnpike (Route 165).
A dedication on the monument’s front (northwest) side reads, “In grateful memory of those citizens of the Town of Preston who served their country in arms in the war for the preservation of the Union.”
The northwest face also features a raised United States shield flanked by the years when the Civil War was fought.
The southwest side bears an inscription reading, “From this town, obedient to the call of patriotism and humanity, went forth one hundred and fifty men.”
An inscription on the northeast side reads, “Erected in token of filial gratitude and affection for their early home and to commemorate the patriotic devotion of friends & neighbors of their youth by Charles and Lucius Brown, 1898.”
The southeast side has an inscription reading, “This monument marks the dwelling place of General Samuel Mott, eminent citizen, upright magistrate, soldier of the Revolution, friend of Washington.”
Mott was an engineer who served at Fort Ticonderoga in New York as well as forts in New London and Groton.
On the monument’s northwest face, a 1921 plaque lists about 50 residents who served in World War I.
The land on which the monument and the former library, now the home of the Preston Historical Society, was donated by the Brown family along with the monument. The monument and the library were both dedicated on November 25, 1898.
The site also features two mortar cannons as well as pyramids of cannonballs.
The monument, supplied by the Smith Granite Company of Westerly, Rhode Island, was restored in 2000.
A spring-fed horse fountain donated in 1918 by retired inventor DeLambre Bates stands a short walk southwest of the Soldiers’ Monument site.
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Preston honors American Revolution veterans with a simple monument on a small green.
The monument, at the intersection of Shetucket Turnpike (Route 165) and Old Shetucket Turnpike, features an eagle atop a granite pillar.
A dedication on the front (west) side of the pillar reads, “In memory of the patriots of Preston who served in the Revolutionary War 1775-1781.”
The pillar, a former farm implement that was pulled by oxen to flatten fields, stands atop a former millstone.
An application to list the Preston City Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places provides a 1967 dedication date for the monument.
The Preston memorial is nearly identical to a veterans’ monument in the Gales Ferry section of Ledyard.
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