By Robert Kuhn. 11/8/2025
A salute to our Shaler Area Veterans!
With Veterans Day approaching, I wanted to pay my respect to all Veterans by visiting the memorial monuments around the Shaler area, which includes Reserve, Millvale, Etna, and Shaler. I hope you enjoy viewing the many pictures as well as reading my summarized thoughts and impressions about each of the beautiful monument sites.
I began my pleasant tour in Reserve Township because it is the farthest from my home, and then I worked my way back from there, through Millvale, into Etna, and then back to Shaler Township. And just for good measure, I also visited the neighboring Hampton Township. I hope I found them all, but if you know of other Memorials in the Shaler area that I missed, please let me know so that I can include them here in this tribute post.
Visiting the sites was definitely an enjoyable day. I highly recommend making this sort of day trip to anyone who wishes to pay tribute to and is a supporter of our military Veterans, as I know so many of us are.
Reserve Township Veterans Memorial
Located on Mt. Troy Rd. at Pittview Ave.
This is a very well-done presentation, honoring Veterans. There is a concrete walkway leading up to the three main structures of this site. The site is bordered with mulched areas, which not only looks nice, it eliminates weekly lawn mowing and weed pulling maintenance. Behind the structures are manicured shrubbery. Not shown in the picture is a tall flagpole directly behind the center monument. I think all of the memorials have flagpoles either on the site or very close by.
Notice in this picture that Reserve Township added a monument stone with their name on it. I think that is a nice touch. Also, notice the toppled flower pots. At most of the memorials, I found myself picking up toppled flowers, wreath stands, or fallen US flags off the ground. I was happy to do so and felt it was my duty as a visitor. I trust that every visitor takes their turn at helping keep the sites properly and respectfully presented.
The handsome left-side monument is dedicated to and lists the individual names of the Reserve Township residents who served in WWI. A couple of the names have a star beside them. It is not specified here, but the star likely indicates the person was killed in action (KIA). I believe the monument is made of granite stone with a brass or bronze plaque fastened to it. The dimensions of the three structures are approximately 68” tall x 29” wide x 12” deep.
The right-hand monument also appears to be made of granite; however, I am not a stone expert. Unlike the left-hand monument that lists individual names, this engraved structure is dedicated to ALL Reserve residents who have served in ALL wars.
The beautiful centerpiece of this memorial site is dedicated to one man: Reserve Township’s posthumously awarded Congressional Medal of Honor (MOH) recipient, William Prom. A true Hero! The two bronze plaques that are fastened to the stone monument are shown below.
The lower plaque displays Lance Corporal Prom’s complete MOH citation. This is the highest military decoration that can be awarded to the military heroes of our great country. To my knowledge, there are just two MOH recipients in the Shaler area. They have my greatest admiration and respect.
Millvale, Etna, and Reserve all have their streets lined with banners to honor their communities’ Veterans. It was just a coincidence that I looked up as I was leaving the Reserve Township Memorials and discovered the banner pictured below.
I did some preliminary research on Frederick Smith and still have a lot more to do. But it sure looks like I have discovered another name to add to the list of Shaler Area’s Fallen Heroes project that I am currently researching and working on. I hope to present those findings in a future Viet Vet Blog post.
Millvale Veterans Memorials
I found two memorials on North Ave. across the street from each other, near the Millvale VFW.
This tall, towering Millvale monument is from “back in the day” when they used to include bronze statues. It has a concrete walkway that is surrounded by a well-manicured grassy area and is enclosed with a gated metal fence. The stone structure is triangular-shaped with three sides that have a plaque attached to each side. All three plaques are dedicated to World War Veterans. They list the individual names of Millvale residents who served. I’m not positive and should have looked closer, but I believe they are all WWI Veterans. I didn’t notice any indication whether they were KIA or not.
The three big, good-looking bronze plaques are approximately 60” tall x 36” wide. Notice the beautifully painted American flag that adds color to the structure.
The second Millvale monument is pictured below.
The 2nd Millvale memorial monument is also enclosed in a gated grassy area. However, for some reason, the gate was locked. So I could only view it from the street. The stacked decorative concrete blocks behind the monument make it appear much larger than it actually is. Because the gate was locked, I could only estimate the size of the plaques to be 30″ tall x 18″ wide.
This is the best picture I could get by zooming in from the street. It has a beautifully carved eagle and flag in the center, between two small bronze plaques that list individual Veterans’ names. The plaque on the left is dedicated to WWII Veterans. I wondered why there are so few names compared to the other (WWI) much larger monument across the street. Perhaps they are names of KIAs only. The plaque on the right is dedicated to individuals who served in the Korean and Vietnam wars. I was surprised to see only one name from Korea, which again makes me wonder if the names listed on this plaque are of Veteran KIAs only.
I was particularly interested in the names on the Vietnam plaque because of my ongoing Shaler Area Fallen Heroes research. Three of the names listed there match my list. But two others, Ronald Maier and Neil Riley, are not on my list. Further preliminary research indicates that those two names are not on the Vietnam Memorial Wall either. So, perhaps they are not deceased, or maybe they died later on after the war.
Etna Veterans Memorials
Etna has two memorials (unless you count Reeseville and Shaler Heights). Since I am not sure which side of the Shaler-Etna border those two are on, I’ll create their own separate page.
The first Etna Memorial, pictured below, is on Bridge Street, close to Sharpsburg.
Most, if not all, of the memorials have tall, full-sized flag poles. In my opinion, this is a very nicely done mid-sized monument.
The attractive main structure is fairly simple, made from common bricks. The 66” wide x 36” tall plaque appears to be polished black marble or granite. The white lettering contrast is amazingly visible and readable. Interestingly, there are no individual Veterans’ names listed. The dedication is to “ALL Veterans of our great country” (Not just to Etna). Notice also that this one and most, if not all, of the memorials have lighting sources added to them.
The round brass/bronze addons are fastened on top of the black background panel. They represent each branch of service. I really like this structure. It looks great. This one doesn’t, but I think it should be noted that future references to “all” military branches will probably include the “Space Force” emblem, too.
The 2nd monument I visited in Etna is probably the most impressive of all in the Shaler Area. It is located next to the ballfield on Crescent St. (which becomes Butler St.)
This massive, beautiful, all-natural stone structure was built at the end of WWII in 1945. It has a brick walkway lined with shrubbery and flag-type banners representing the various branches of service. As mentioned in an earlier post, you can notice flags and wreaths on the ground, reemphasizing the continual maintenance and upkeep that all monuments require. Each of the five center bronze panels is approximately 66” tall x 36” wide. Notice that there are also stone bench seats on each side of the monument, as well as a flagpole nearby. The panels list individual names of Veterans from Etna who served. KIAs and Medal of Honor recipients are designated with a star or asterisk next to their name.
The Larger far-right plaque lists the Veterans from Etna who served in the Vietnam Crisis. Notice they didn’t call it a war. Others have also called it a “conflict” rather than a war because the U. S. congress didn’t officially declare war. The smaller panel below it adds names from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and Somalia. I suspect these names were added after the main plaques were completed. I think an important feature in any monument design is having the ability to make future changes, whether they be add-ons, deletions, or error corrections. In my opinion, this is an awesome, impressive monument!
Reeseville / Shaler Heights Memorials
The two Veterans Memorials pictured below are located on the borderline of Etna and Shaler on Grant Ave. I was not aware of their existence until now. The 1919 site was created by local citizens, likely from both communities, who have maintained it for over 100 years.
Notice that even this small site has a full-sized flagpole (behind the left shrub). It also has manicured shrubbery inside of mulched areas with hand-painted road curbs. Both monuments appear to be hand-painted.
It was kind of sad to see this presentation with a wreath stand and flags toppled over when I arrived. But then it is unrealistic to think that any site can be maintained 24/7, and nobody can stop the wind!
The base is made of cement/concrete, which appears to be hand-painted. The dimensions of the lower gray part of the base are 7’ wide x 20” tall. The red center section is 5’ wide x 13” tall, and the top gray concrete block is 3’ wide x 2’ tall. The brass/bronze plaque fastened to the top gray concrete block is 30” wide x 18” tall.
Notice this monument is dedicated to the local Reeseville Veterans of ALL wars.
The left-side memorial pictured below is dedicated to the Shaler Heights Patriots.
The structure looks like it was constructed using decorative cut concrete blocks. The 18” wide x 42” tall plaque lists names from WWI. The names are raised lettering and appear to have been highlighted with hand-painted gold paint. The black border appears to be a hand-painted metal frame.
A Plaque dedicated to the two Shaler Area Medal of Honor (MOH) Recipients.
Located at the Shaler Area Middle School on Mt. Royal Blvd.
At the base of the flagpoles at Shaler Area’s Middle School on Mt. Royal Blvd. is a small 2′ x 2′ engraved stone monument dedicated to the area’s two Medal of Honor recipients who served our great country and earned a larger-than-life true Heroes status. I can’t adequately express the immense admiration and respect that I have for these men.
For much more info about William Prom, scroll up to the Reserve Township Veterans Memorial page.
Also in that same location, across the driveway, is a nice Armed Forces tribute plaque presented by the Shaler Garden Club. I’m looking forward to researching and learning more about the “Blue Star Memorial By-way.”
American Legion Veterans Memorial
Located on Mt Royal Blvd at Shaw Place in Shaler Township.
Photo credit: Courtesy of Amy
I read in the news that the American Legion, along with the VFW, will be performing a Veterans Day ceremony at this site on Veterans Day, Nov 11, 2025. The monument was dedicated 25 years ago, on Veterans Day, Nov 11, 2000, by the American Legion Post 785.
This site has a full-size flagpole with solar lights attached to the pole. The engraved paver stones honoring individual Veterans make a nice walkway up to the monument. The size of the structure is approximately 6′ tall x 3′ wide. The inscription reads: “In honor of the men and women who served in our nation’s armed forces, especially those who made the supreme sacrifice.”
A very nice feature of this site is six 3′ tall concrete posts surrounding the monument. The poles have very sharp-looking armed forces emblems on top of them, recognizing the branches of service.
Another nice feature is this sitting bench that faces a second section of veteran’s name engraved paver stones. I think this is the only monument site that I found in Shaler Township that includes individual Veterans’ names. However, not on the monument itself, but on the engraved pavers. The other Shaler sites are dedicated to “ALL.”
The engraved paver markers appear to be honoring ALL Veterans from ALL wars. But I’m not sure. It could be just local Veterans. More research is needed. Hopefully I will hear from a Legion member for clarification. I have to say that it felt strange stepping on the pavers. I felt like I was stepping on grave markers, and that didn’t seem very respectful. It would be interesting to learn if any Veterans sites have used paver bricks in an upright vertical structure where you could walk by and the names, as you would when you walk along and read the names on the Vietnam War Memorial (the wall). However, Hampton Township did the same thing, using walkway pavers in their amazing monument that I’ll discuss at the end of this page.
On my initial visit to this site, the hydrangeas were a bit overgrown and my pictures were not the greatest. Since then, my friend Amy visited the site and shared the four beautiful pictures shown below as well as the first picture in this post. With the flowering plants trimmed back for the end of the season, you can now see the fully revealed monument on this impressive memorial site. Thank you, Amy.
Mt. Royal VFW Post 9199 Memorial
Located on Wetzel Rd. in Shaler Township
I love this very nice VFW memorial that is located at their Post entrance. It’s simple but very effective with the contrasting natural stone and the bronze plaque. I didn’t measure it, but I would estimate the structure to be 4’ x 4’. I want to go back and measure it to be sure. They also use paver stones (not engraved) at the base. I suspect the flower vase is a permanent attachment that won’t blow over. It is beautifully done and simply honors All Veterans from ALL wars.
Hampton Township Veterans Memorial
Located at the Hampton Community Center, where the Hampton Library is also located.
Even though this blog post is about the Shaler Area Memorials, I feel that Hampton’s Memorial makes a nice addendum to the story. Why? Because it is huge and awesome! I’m not going to further comment on the details, other than to say I spent the most time at this amazing memorial and took the most pictures there because there was so much to see and enjoy. This impressive memorial honors Veterans from the Civil War, all the way up to the present-day Veterans. Here are just a few of the pictures.
Veterans Day is a holiday set aside to celebrate, honor, and remember all U.S. Armed Forces Veterans who served our great country, both living and deceased. Visiting a Veterans Memorial site is a great way to do just that!
Author’s note: This pictorial essay/article is a work in progress. Please feel free to offer your comments and suggestions about the piece. I welcome your helpful feedback. You can contact Robert Kuhn here.
Thank you for reading another one of my Viet Vet Blog posts. I invite you to browse more articles here: Viet Vet Blog.
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