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War memorial (Medal of Honor roster) · Dedicated November 10, 2007

Congressional Medal of Honor Memorial

Location
Gen. George A. Joulwan Park, Greenwood Hill (Burns & Anderson Sts.), Pottsville, PA
Dedicated
November 10, 2007
Status
Extant
Coordinates
40.69214, -76.1865 · Open in Maps

The Congressional Medal of Honor Memorial is a granite roster monument at Gen. George A. Joulwan Park on Greenwood Hill in northeast Pottsville. It lists, by war, the fifteen Schuylkill County servicemen known to have received the Medal of Honor — the nation’s highest decoration for valor — and was dedicated on November 10, 2007 by the City of Pottsville and the Pottsville Joint Veterans Council, with Pottsville-born Gen. George A. Joulwan speaking.

The fifteen recipients

The memorial organizes the honorees by conflict, as recorded on the stone:

  • Indian Wars — Cpl. Jacob Gunther (Minersville); Sgt. James Blair (Girardville)
  • Civil War — Col. Jacob G. Frick (Pottsville); Cpl. Henry Hill (Schuylkill Haven); Pvt. George W. Harris; Pvt. Thomas Robinson (Tamaqua); Pvt. James M. Seitzinger (Pottsville); Cpl. Patrick H. Monaghan (Minersville); Pvt. Robert A. Reid (Pottsville); Sgt. Charles E. Brown (Schuylkill Haven)
  • Boxer Rebellion — Sgt. Alexander Joseph Foley, U.S.M.C. (Heckscherville)
  • World War I — Lt. (later Rear Adm.) Joel T. Boone (Saint Clair)
  • World War II — Cpl. Anthony P. Damato (Shenandoah); Sgt. Harold O. Messerschmidt (Grier City); Capt. Robert E. Roeder (Summit Station)

The most Pottsville-tied recipient is Col. Jacob Gellert Frick (1825–1902), who mustered at Pottsville in 1861 with the 96th Pennsylvania Infantry — the same county regiment whose Gettysburg monument was sculpted by August Zeller — and earned the medal for seizing his regiment’s colors under fire at Fredericksburg and recovering the captured flag at Chancellorsville. (Sourced biographies for fourteen of the fifteen are published in the Biographies section and linked below; a verified biography of the Indian Wars recipient James Blair is still being researched. Authoritative per-recipient citations are maintained by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.)

The 2007 Joulwan Park project

The monument was conceived by Col. Vincent J. Land of Minersville, who assembled the roster from the Republican & Herald’s own recipient research and brought it to the Pottsville Joint Veterans Council (president Robert “Bob” Bedford championed siting it at Joulwan Park). The granite stone was supplied by a Hazleton monument company, and Mayor John D.W. Reiley called it the park’s “gateway.” The stone itself carries no date — it is dated by its November 11, 2007 dedication coverage. The project was part of a single 2007 development that also received the relocated 1986 Veterans Memorial, which stands a few steps away.

Significance

As a roster memorial its value is documentary: it gathers in one place the county’s Medal of Honor recipients from the Indian Wars through World War II, anchoring national valor to specific anthracite-region hometowns. Through Col. Frick and the 96th Pennsylvania, the Joulwan Park grouping ties back to the city’s central Soldiers’ & Sailors’ Monument downtown.

Recipient biographies

  • Joel T. Boone (1889–1974) — St. Clair-born Navy physician who treated wounded Marines under shell and gas fire at Vierzy in 1918, earning the Medal of Honor; later a White House physician and the most-decorated medical officer in U.S. history.
  • Charles E. Brown (1841–1919) — Schuylkill Haven sergeant of the 50th Pennsylvania who captured the flag of the 47th Virginia at the Weldon Railroad in 1864, earning the Medal of Honor.
  • Anthony P. Damato (1922–1944) — Shenandoah-born Marine corporal who smothered an enemy grenade with his body to save two comrades on Eniwetok in 1944, earning a posthumous Medal of Honor; the destroyer USS Damato was named for him.
  • Alexander J. Foley (1866–1910) — Heckscherville-born Marine sergeant who, under fire near Tientsin, China, in 1900, helped carry a badly wounded officer to safety, earning the Medal of Honor.
  • Jacob G. Frick (1825–1902) — Colonel of the 129th Pennsylvania Infantry from Pottsville who earned the Medal of Honor for saving his regiment's colors under fire at Fredericksburg (1862) and Chancellorsville (1863).
  • Jacob Gunther (c. 1844–1871) — Corporal in the 8th U.S. Cavalry, a Schuylkill County man named on the Pottsville Medal of Honor Memorial, who earned the medal for bravery in the 1868–1869 Arizona scouts and actions.
  • George W. Harris (1835–1920) — Schuylkill County-born private of the 148th Pennsylvania who wrested an enemy flag from a color-bearer in hand-to-hand fighting at Spotsylvania in 1864, earning the Medal of Honor.
  • Henry Hill (1843–1908) — Schuylkill County corporal of the 50th Pennsylvania who refused to retreat and held his ground in the Wilderness in 1864, earning the Medal of Honor.
  • Harold O. Messerschmidt (1923–1944) — Grier City-born Army sergeant who fought on alone to the last against an overwhelming German assault near Radden, France, in 1944, earning a posthumous Medal of Honor.
  • Patrick H. Monaghan (1843–1917) — Irish-born corporal of the 48th Pennsylvania from Minersville who recaptured a regimental flag at Petersburg in 1864, earning the Medal of Honor.
  • Robert A. Reid (1842–1929) — Scottish-born private of the 48th Pennsylvania from Pottsville who captured the flag of the 44th Tennessee at Petersburg in 1864, earning the Medal of Honor.
  • Thomas Robinson (born c. 1833) — Irish-born private of the 81st Pennsylvania who settled at Tamaqua and captured an enemy flag in hand-to-hand fighting at Spotsylvania in 1864, earning the Medal of Honor.
  • Robert E. Roeder (1917–1944) — Summit Station-born Army captain who rallied his company through repeated counterattacks at Mount Battaglia, Italy, in 1944, fighting on after being mortally wounded, and earning a posthumous Medal of Honor.
  • James M. Seitzinger (1846–1924) — Pottsville private of the 116th Pennsylvania who seized the colors when the bearer fell and carried them in a charge at Cold Harbor in 1864, earning the Medal of Honor.

Sources

Frequently asked

How many Medal of Honor recipients does the memorial list?
Fifteen — the Schuylkill County servicemen known to have received the Medal of Honor, organized by conflict from the Indian Wars through World War II. The roster was assembled by Col. Vincent J. Land of Minersville from the Republican & Herald's own recipient research.
When and by whom was it dedicated?
It was dedicated November 10, 2007 by the City of Pottsville and the Pottsville Joint Veterans Council; Pottsville-born Gen. George A. Joulwan, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, spoke.

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