Plaques not forgotten by those who maintain them

LYNN – Busy East Lynn church members cleaning out their building were ready to throw away a heavy metal slab before a Marine Corps colonel spotted the World War I memorial plaque and called Larry Campbell.?My uncle?s and my father?s names were inscribed on it,” said the local historian.The plaque adorns a corner in the Grand Army of the Republic building downtown and it lists 41 World War I veterans, including Frank and Percy Campbell, as well as former Lynn residents who “made the supreme sacrifice” fighting in Europe almost 100 years ago.Members of the former Church of the Incarnation on Lewis Street dedicated the memorial in 1919 and Larry Campbell and GAR curator Robert Matthias are among local residents committed to preserving metal plates anchored to stone memorial markers across the city.One of those markers stands in front of Shawn Kinney?s East Lynn home and Kinney prunes the plantings that grow around the memorial honoring World War I veteran Ralph Burdett. Kinney said he looks after the Burdett memorial even though Fiory?s Landscaping does a good job maintaining the traffic island on which the memorial sits.?I think all these memorials help us remember what other people have given to this country,” he said.Burdett, a private in the 4th Infantry Division, was killed in September 1918 “at Argonne Forest,” according to the memorial. A sign adorned with American flags and bearing his name – but spelled “Burdette” – marks the traffic island.Burdett?s photograph shares a wall in the GAR with portraits of 149 other local World War I veterans. Matthias said the soldiers were photographed when they entered military training using a process that transfers the image captured by the camera onto a copper plate.?Within a year, they were dead,” said Campbell.Thomas Kehoe?s photograph also hangs on the wall and a metal and stone memorial honoring Kehoe is located at two of the city?s busiest streets. A similar memorial located in West Lynn is missing its metal plaque and city Facilities Manager Lloyd Barnes said plaques across the city fell victim to thieves when metal prices climbed eight years ago.?Slowly, through attrition, they have disappeared,” Barnes said.Barnes said 15 to 18 memorial plaques dot the city. City workers recovered some memorial plaques after structures like Manning Bowl were torn down and the plaques are in storage until original or new locations for them can be found.Others remain fixed to their original stones, cared for by residents who share Kinney?s sense of dedication. Risolvo Bisegna served in the Army and he doesn?t mind taking a stiff brush and brass polish to a plaque located off Lewis Street.?The older people will look at these – younger people, they don?t care – but I try to bring it to life: We need to appreciate America as a free land,” Bisegna said.Kinney said his efforts to preserve Burdett?s memory do not go unappreciated.?When I?m out here working, the number of people who stop and say ?thank you? is amazing,” he said.