To the Editor:

During the waning days of World War II, concentration camps across Germany were being liberated by Allied soldiers. Milton Hart, a life-long resident of Berne, was one of those heroic soldiers.

Milton was 18 when he joined the military. Little did he know or imagine that on April 29, 1945, he would help liberate Dachau, one of the most notorious of Adolf Hitler’s heinous concentration camps.

After the war, Milton returned home, married, and took over his father’s business — The Mill, now called The Olde Berne Mill. But the memories of the war stayed with him, seared deep within his brain.

He will never forget the tanks crashing through the gates of Dachau, or the emaciated victims he found there. He will never forget the horrors he encountered: the boxcars filled with bodies, the vacant look of the sick and dying, the cruelty so evident everywhere he looked.

Those memories never left him. He frequently exchanged stories with fellow servicemen from Berne — Mike Willsey, Mace Porter, Norm Smith — reliving many of their experiences. It was during those conversations that he realized the importance of acknowledging the service these men had devoted to their country.

When Milton joined the service, a memorial to the men who fought, and were fighting in World War II, was already erected. Known as the Honor Roll, it was initially a single panel listing the names of those who served in the war. More names were added as more men were called to duty.

For a time, the Honor Roll stood at the junction of Helderberg Trail and Irish Hill. Then, in 2006, the Berne Town Board approved an Eagle Scout project by Justin Lewis to create a reproduction of the original Honor Roll, which by then had deteriorated and been taken down.

Milton, Justin, and Fred Lendrum searched the records to make sure that all veterans were appropriately listed on the reproduction. They reviewed documents and official records to ensure accuracy, and, in July of 2006, erected the finished project in Berne’s town park.

What is left of Justin’s Honor Roll sits in the town park today, ravaged by time, its flag tattered and a panel missing.

It is time we replace the neglected Honor Roll with a permanent memorial to all our veterans. It is time we honor the men and women who served and are serving our country in both war and peace.

A citizens’ committee of local veterans and other interested individuals has been organized, with the intent of creating a permanent memorial. They ask nothing from the town but a site in the Berne Town Park on which to erect the memorial.

The designated area would require greater space than its current location, allowing for expansion, quiet reflection, and room for memorial events. A formal request for a space in the park will be made to the town board as plans for the memorial’s design are finalized. The committee will, of course, keep the town apprised of developments as the project moves forward.

Thank you to Milton Hart for raising this issue. Thank you to Joel and Patsy Willsey, who hosted the luncheons at which Milton and his fellow vets gathered. Thank you to the veterans who have volunteered to support their project and their fellow soldiers.

We owe it to these people, who so valiantly served their country, to remember them publicly and with dignity.

Karen Schimmer

Berne

Editor’s note: Karen Schimmer is a former Berne councilwoman.