Celebrating a war memorial reborn

Veterans Day will be celebrated with two ceremonies in Port Washington this year — the rededication of the World War II Memorial on Saturday, Nov. 8, and the traditional Wall of Honor ceremony on Tuesday, Nov. 11.

The World War II Memorial in Coal Dock Park was refurbished this year, a project spearheaded by former Port Police Captain Mike Keller.

“I think it turned out great,” Keller said. “It looks beautiful.”

When the brick walkway was rebuilt, Keller said, a special touch was added. A heart fashioned from clay found at the site by Wendy Braam, was laid under memorial bricks honoring Joe Demler and Harvey Kurtz, World War II veterans whose names became synonymous with the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight, which began in Port.

The clay, he said, isn’t just any clay.  It was embedded with sand from the beach at Iwo Jima, brought back by Kurtz, who witnessed from a warship the raising of the American flag atop Mount Suribachi during the battle of Iwo Jima. It was also mixed with water from the national World War II Memorial Fountain brought by Demler, who was captured at the Battle of the Bulge and survived life in a Nazi prison camp when he was liberated by Allied troops — a famous photo of his emaciated body lying on a cot when the troops arrived was published in Life magazine as an example of the cruelty of war.

Keller said when he and Braam saw crews pulling out the damaged bricks, “it almost felt like we were violating the site.” 

But then Braam picked up a handful of the clay and fashioned the heart.

“It just felt like the right thing to do,” he said.

The memorial project was prompted by the fact that the pathway of memorial bricks engraved with the names of area veterans that leads to the memorial had fallen into disrepair. A number of the bricks were discolored, while others were dislodged by the freeze-thaw cycle.

Keller raised more than $30,000 to refurbish the walkway, replacing the bricks that couldn’t be preserved and adding new memorial bricks, adding drainage to prevent future issues, improve lighting at the memorial and create a maintenance fund.

The memorial, a replica of the Wisconsin Pillar at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., will be dedicated in an hour-long ceremony that starts at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Renee Riddle, the director of public relations for the Wisconsin War Memorial and a former board member of the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight, will be the emcee.

There will be an invocation by Alan Cottrell of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5373 and remarks by Port Mayor Ted Neitzke, Stars and Stripes Honor Flight founder Joe Dean, Port Parks and Forestry Director Jon Crain and a military spokesman.

Windy Hope will sing the National Anthem, then Jim Johnson, retired Ozaukee County sheriff and past department commander of the Wisconsin American Legion, will lay a wreath at the monument.

Following a moment of silence, there will be a rifle salute and taps played by bugler Jim Russell of VFW Post 5373.

Cottrell will offer a prayer, and Keller will make closing remarks.

Following the ceremony, a free luncheon will be held at the Van-Ells-Schanen American Legion Post 82 Clubhouse, 435 N. Lake St.

On Veterans Day, the traditional Wall of Honor ceremony at Port Washington High School’s Performing Arts Center will begin at 10:25 a.m.

The ceremony will include music by the Port High School band and choirs, the presentation of the colors, and remarks by the president of the Student Council and Principal Rachel Biertzer.

Four veterans will be named to the Wall of Honor. They include:

• Doug Hackl, a 1992 graduate of Port High who served in the Marine Corps, will be introduced by his wife Erin. He was nominated by the Van Ells-Schanen American Legion Post in Port.

• Twins Dennis and Dustin Brede, who were members of the Port High Class of 1994 and served in the Marine Corps, were nominated by Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5373. Dennis will be introduced by Clayton Heller, and he will introduce his late brother Dustin.

• Thomas Wieman, a 1979 graduate of Port High who served in the Air Force. He will be introduced by Paul Rammel. He was nominated by the Landt-Thiel American Legion Post 470 in Saukville. 

There will be a rifle salute and taps will be played by Wieman, who is the bugler for Post 470. Following the ceremony, a free lunch by the Van Ells-Schanen American Legion Auxiliary will be held at the Port Legion Clubhouse.