Great War Memorial - Hammonton, NJ
N 39° 38.275 W 074° 48.048
18S E 517093 N 4387590
This stone memorial can be found on the left side of the entrance to Veterans Memorial Park in the historic part of town. A winding path will lead you to this memorial as well as the three other ones located inside this small, quiet park.
Waymark Code: WM7XC6
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 12/17/2009
Views: 4
On the way to the memorial, and along the path, are bronze (they are green now) are these stones a little bigger than bricks which bear the name of each individual boy who died in the Great War. The markers also bear their unit name, their date of death and the circumstance in which they died.
The memorial is a stone monument made of rough stone and unfinished and upon it, attached, is a heavy bronze (now oxidized like the markers) name marker which lists the names of those local residents who served. The marker is on a marble base. The tippy-top of this 7 foot marker hold a sphere upon which rests a stunning bronze eagle, the likes of which can be seen topping many memorials from the Great War in the United States.
The inscription reads:
Roll of Honor
Erected by the Residents of
HAMMONTON, NEW JERSEY
In Honor Of Those Who Served Their Country
IN THE GREAT WORLD WAR
In Memoriam
A list of names in three columns follows. There are approximately 242 names in all, which are broken up into military branches. The U.S. Army contains about 98% of all names.
This memorial rests in Veterans Memorial Park, a quiet green space, nestled back off of historic Bellevue Avenue. All total, there are 4 beautiful monuments, this one to World War I, 2 monuments to World War II, and this combined memorial to the Korean and Vietnam Wars as well as the aforementioned individual markers for the Hammonton Boys who died in the Great War.
This is a quiet part of town, historic in its own right. Ronald Reagan even came here and visited in the 80s and spoke to the town. Two churches are on either side of the park. It seems when this place was completed, the other memorials were brought here to complete the collection and help the park live up to its name.