Commissioner Jack Monahan of the World War I Centennial Commission addresses a crowd Thursday at the Veterans War Memorial Tower atop Mount Greylock in Adams. The tower was chosen this year to be honored by the "100 Cities/100 Memorials" program jointly run by the World War I Centennial Commission and the Pritzker Military Museum & Library in Chicago.
Mount Greylock veterans tower memorial joins national list
By Larry Parnass
via the Berkshire Eagle newspaper web site
ADAMS — A monument to state residents who served in World War I stands higher than any structure in Massachusetts, thanks to its placement atop Mount Greylock.
These days, it has got reason to sit up a little taller.
The Veterans War Memorial Tower in the Mount Greylock State Reservation has been named to an elite group of tributes to the Great War across the U.S.
The site was chosen this year to be honored by the "100 Cities/100 Memorials" program jointly run by the World War I Centennial Commission and the Pritzker Military Museum & Library in Chicago.
Late Thursday morning, officials with each of those groups gathered atop Greylock to present the award and call for continued tributes to those who answer the military's call.
Their visit comes a year after the completion of $2.6 million in repairs to the 93-foot monument, whose beacon, in the right conditions, can be seen all the way to Boston.
"I share your pride in the restoration and rededication," said John D. Monahan of the centennial commission, who came from Essex, Conn., for the event. "I am heartened by the knowledge that this generation, too, has its heroes — citizens like you for whom the words `lest we forget' are a touchstone."
Monahan said later that in selecting sites to honor, the commission gave preference to ones that draw ongoing community support.
Rebecca Barnes, the Department of Conservation and Recreation's regional coordinator for the Greylock complex, applied for the "100 Memorials" designation this year. The honor comes with a $2,000 award from the Pritzker museum.
Col. Jennifer N. Pritzker, who served with the U.S Army from 1974 to 2001 and is the military museum's chairwoman, looked out across a small crowd assembled before a makeshift podium, flanked by an honor guard and color guard.
Pritzker recalled a recent visit to the Adams monument from her home in Chicago for a family gathering. She said returning to the monument brings memories of family.
"I wish all of you, too, have happy times here with your family. One way to memorialize the sacrifices of the veterans, and their deaths, is to bring new life," she said.
Pritzker noted that since World War I, as Americans fought in other conflicts, the tower's significance only grows.
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