Greenup County War Memorial, Flatwoods, KY
This is an ambitious memorial. It is set up more as a memorial park than a simple monument. The location alongside US-23 encourages travelers to stop and rest.
The park area consists of the monument area and a few pieces of military hardware; a tank, Howitzer, Higgins boat, and a UH-1 "Huey" helicopter of the VietNam era. The black granite monument is flanked by two white marble stones. One commemorates the Medal of Honor awared to Corporal John W. Collier, a native of Greenup County, and the other displays the words of 'Taps', a reminder that this is a memoral to the fallen.
Collier was a 22 year old infantryman killed in the early days of the Korean Conflict. He led a small group of men up a battfield hill in an attempt to stifle a machine gun position. That act itself was heroic, but upon returning down the hill to his squad a greande landed among the men and Collier sacrificed himself to save his comrades. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
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Greenup County War Memorial is located along US-23, just north of Ashland, Kentucky
The LCVP, or Higgins Boat as it was first known, points out an omission on the monument that probably was not intended.
These small boats carried troops to the beaches during amphibious assaults in Europe and the Pacific Theater. Many were
manned by US Coast Guardsmen. Although there are five service flags flying behind the monument, there are only four
service seals etched upon the face of the granite. The Coast Guard is not shown, or their efforts recognized. Possibly
the designers of this memorial wanted to specifically commemorate only those lost in action and there were no
Coast Guardsmen among this county's rolls?
Dedicated to those who gave their lives"
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