For years, a stone marker bearing the names of 52 Lexington men who died while serving in World War I has been in storage.
Originally placed on Nov. 11, 1924, the monument was moved from its spot near the old Fayette County Courthouse on Main Street several years ago, during renovations on the building and at a time when some other statues on the grounds had become a point of controversy.
Now, exactly 100 years to the day after it was erected, the World War I monument will be rededicated at Veterans Park, on a War Memorial Walk that also includes monuments to Vietnam and Korean War veterans.
“They have been shoved aside,” Jack Mills, a member of the Sons of the American Legion who helped organize the rededication ceremony, said of the monument’s years in storage. “It’s an insult to them for that to be treated that way.
“They need to be in a place of honor. They need to be remembered. They gave up all of their tomorrows for us.”
For some of the men, including several who were lost at sea, the monument is the only marker bearing their names, Mills said.
The marker was placed on one of the very first Veterans Days, which at the time was known as Armistice Day, marking the date World War I combat ended.
The rededication ceremony, which begins at 10 a.m. Monday at the park, “will include music, a wreath-laying ceremony, and remarks from Mayor Linda Gorton, American Legion leadership and Lexington African-American historian Yvonne Giles,” the city said in a news release.
The event will also tell the stories of a few of the men who died, including Nathan Caulder, who is buried in Lexington’s African Cemetery No. 2. Caulder enlisted in the Army in 1900 at age 18. He served in France during World War I and after the war ended volunteered to return to France, where he died of illness in 1919.
American Legion Post 132 was named in his honor the following year.
The event will be livestreamed on the city’s YouTube channel.
It’s one of several opportunities for people to mark Veterans Day in Central Kentucky.
Some other options include:
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A ceremony honoring all veterans at Camp Nelson National Cemetery in Nicholasville at 11 a.m. Monday. Among the speakers is Glendell Bennett, a 100-year-old World War II veteran who lives in Lexington.
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A resource fair sponsored by the Fayette County Military Suicide Prevention Coalition from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday at the Marksbury Branch of the Lexington Public Library.
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Frankfort’s Veterans Day Parade and Celebration, beginning at 10:45 a.m. Monday.
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In Louisville, Gov. Andy Beshear will be at St. Louis Cemetery at 3 p.m. for “A Celebration of Patriotism,” a ceremony honoring 16 Black veterans who served as Buffalo Soldiers in the Civil War and in World War I. They are buried in unmarked graves and will be recognized for the first time Monday, according to the governor’s office. The cemetery is at 1167 Barret Ave.
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