Century-old Marine monument again standing guard over Indiana town, thanks to vets' work

As kids growing up in Carlisle, Indiana, brothers George and Rodney Hale often played in the shadow of a World War I-era monument on the corner of the public schoolyard.

The monument featured stone statues of a soldier and a sailor, and the names of 80 men from Haddon Township who had fought in "The Great War" were inscribed in the base. The name of the Hale brothers’ grandfather Henry C. Hale, a Marine, was among them.

The monument was placed shortly after the end of World War I following a fund drive launched in July 1919 by the War Mothers organization to raise the $2,200 needed to contract with the Terre Haute Monument Company and erect the monument.

But sometime in the 1960s, town officials became concerned about the safety of the 16-foot-tall monument and decided to take it down, according to George Hale.

In the process, the stone sailor was irreparably damaged and the Marine also lost some of its original features, including a hat brim, rifle and an ear. For years the latter sat idle and remained in disrepair on a local private property.

Last spring the Hale brothers, both veterans, decided it was time to rescue and resurrect the remaining statue in honor of the brave efforts of their grandfather Henry and other Hoosier native sons.

And last week the restored statue was returned to “stand silent guard” over Carlisle, a community of about 700 people between Vincennes and Terre Haute. It’s now placed about a block away from the location of the original monument, George said.

“The story of its discovery, repair and return in time for Veterans Day is a remarkable one,” he said.

The brothers decided to repair the statue at their own expense. After a meticulous sandblasting, they carefully loaded the artifact and delivered it to a stone carver in Quincy, Indiana, north of Bloomington for restoration.

After several months of work that included retooling and replacing the missing or broken features, George said, the statue was brought back home just recently.

“We fixed him up and put him like he should be,” the U.S. Army veteran said. “We wanted to get it done for Veterans Day.”

George said that since the timeline was close and Veterans Day observances were already scheduled in Sullivan County for this year, they didn’t plan a ceremony or rededication just yet.

But he said they hope to schedule an observance to mark the statue’s return next Memorial Day. “It’s one of my personal goals,” he said.

According to research by Sullivan County Public Library historian and genealogist Donna Adams, the monument was originally placed in October 1920, though it appears from a story in the Carlisle News of Oct. 15, 1920, that the intention had been to unveil and dedicate it on Nov. 11, 1919, exactly one year after end of World War I.

A Nov. 7, 1919 article, also in the Carlisle News, made an appeal to donors for assistance with the funding to pay for the monument. The story indicated that work was nearing completion.

When it was installed in 1920, an inscription on the original monument read: “Erected in honor of the soldiers, sailors, marines and aviators of this community. April 6, 1917-November 11, 1918. Unveiled November 11, 1919.”

The Oct. 15, 2020, article noting that the monument had been set the week before described it: “The monument is a beautiful piece of work and stands about sixteen feet high from the base to the top of the electric light post (in the center of the monument flanked by the statues). Inscribed on the main base of the monument are the names of men who were in service during the World war.”

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: World War I statue repaired with help from Carlisle, Indiana veterans