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Monument honors veterans

Relatives, community members gather

Mirror photo by Shen Wu Tan / From left, Katelynn Port, Bob St. Germain Jr. and Trena Figard unveil the Medal of Honor Monument at the Huntingdon County Courthouse at 223 Penn St. on Saturday afternoon.

HUNTINGDON — A slight breeze whipped American flags staked next to a new granite monument commemorating five Medal of Honor recipients with ties to Huntingdon County during a dedication ceremony along Penn Street on Saturday afternoon.

Relatives of those whose names are etched on the monument, veterans and other community supporters gathered around the county courthouse grounds to witness the unveiling of the monument recognizing Sgt. William D. Port, Pvt. William P. MaClay, Pvt. Henry C. Warfel, Pvt. William Reed and Capt. Horace Porter.

“These five Medal of Honor winners, ladies and gentlemen, did their duty. They did their duty so you and I could live, our families could live, our towns and townships, our state and great nation would be free,” said Samuel Hayes Jr., former House representative and former state Secretary of Agriculture, to a crowd of attendees.

“But let us never forget the land of the free is because of the brave,” he said. “And the five we have come to honor here today were the brave — conspicuous gallantry and valor.”

Sgt. Port, born in Petersburg in 1941, served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and distinguished himself as a rifleman with Company C, which had conducted combat operations against its enemies in the Que Son Valley. While his platoon came under “heavy enemy fire” and was forced to withdraw, Port assisted a wounded comrade back to the safety of their platoon perimeter, despite his own injuries.

He also hurled himself toward a grenade to shield his comrades from the explosion, according to an informational booklet.

Port died as a prisoner of war in 1968 and is buried at the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

Pvt. MaClay was born in Spruce Creek in 1877 and served in the U.S. Army during the Philippine Insurrection. He was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1902 for charging an occupied bastion and saving the life of an officer in hand-to-hand combat with an enemy.

For part of his life, he lived in Altoona and enlisted there. He died in 1943 in Philadelphia and is also buried at the Arlington National Cemetery.

Pvt. Warfel, born in 1844 in Mill Creek, served in the Union Army in the 1st Pennsylvania Cavalry during the Civil War.

He received the Medal of Honor in 1865 at Paine’s Crossroads in Virginia and assisted with the “capture of Virginia state colors,” his citation states. He died in 1923 and is buried in Philipsburg.

Pvt. Reed was born in 1839 in Union County and served in the Union Army for the 8th Missouri Infantry during the Civil War. He earned a Medal of Honor in 1895 for “gallantry in the charge of the volunteer storming party,” states a citation. After the war, Reed moved to Huntingdon, where he started a business on Washington Street.

He died in 1918 and is buried in the Riverview Cemetery in Huntingdon. He is the only one out of the five Medal of Honor recipients buried in the county, according to Lonnie Smith Jr., a local historian.

Capt. Porter, son of former Pennsylvania Gov. David Rittenhouse Porter, was born in 1837 in Huntingdon and served in the Union Army during the Civil War. He reached rank of brigadier general and received the Medal of Honor at the Battle of Chickamauga in September 1863.

On the last day of the battle, Porter served as captain in the Ordinance Department and “rallied enough fugitives to hold the ground under heavy fire long enough to effect the escape of wagon trains and batteries” while acting as a volunteer aide.

He later became a U.S. Ambassador to France from 1897 to 1905 and paid for the recovery and re-burial of John Paul Jones’ body. Porter died in 1921 in New York and is buried in New Jersey.

A few relatives of those recognized who attended the monument dedication Saturday expressed gratitude for the community support.

A niece of Port, Katelynn Port, spoke on behalf of her great uncle’s sacrifices at the ceremony, commenting on what a great honor it was and sharing her appreciation for how the community came together.

The Petersburg resident said she received a small plaque of the monument and noted the importance of everyone understanding their history.

Mary Baker, the sister of Port, also attended the event.

“They earned it,” Baker said of those recognized by the granite monument.

Another dedication attendee had ties to two of the Medal of Honor recipients. Deborah Knode said she is the cousin of both Reed and Port.

“The monument is very beautiful,” Knode said. “And I appreciate everyone who showed up — family, friends, people we don’t even know.”

“It’s really heartbreaking, but wonderful,” she said of the monument dedication, her eyes welling up with tears. “They gave up their own lives for us … we need to keep living and going on and keep them all in our memories and never forget what they had done for us. Never forget.”

The $4,500 monument was overdue, said VFW Post 150 member Pat Lawler, who helped raise money with Bill Ostrich for the monument’s installation. It took about three weeks to raise the funds for the monument and copies of an informational booklet.

Bob St. Germain Jr. led the effort to install the commemorative monument on public grounds as a way to honor his deceased father, who was a Vietnam and Korean War veteran, and others who served their country.

The idea for the monument popped into his head about five years ago, St. Germain said.

“It’s been an honor to be able to do this and to see how much our county has supported this,” he said. “It’s been amazing.”

The retired Marine said he would like to install monuments for each major U.S. conflict, including World War I and World War II, as a way to honor all veterans.

He added he would like to create a brick walkway that encircles the monuments and bears the names of other loved ones who fought for the country.

As the crowd dissipated, sunlight beamed down on the monument as the colors of white, red and blue waved back and forth, back and forth.

Mirror Staff Writer Shen Wu Tan is at 946-7457.

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