Work Continues on Fallen Warriors Memorial

Construction of the Fallen Warriors Memorial continues at Jesse James Park, north of Kearney. The foundation and sidewalk have been poured and constructed in anticipation of the monument placement.

Photo by Kearney Parks and Recreation

Future generations will have a single place to commemorate the ultimate sacrifice made by 17 local far too long forgotten. Their names make the memorial personal, showing the human impact of war on a community and establishing a physical bond with its residents.

As a tribute to these fallen heroes, KPGZ News will publish biographies of the soldiers as provided by Rich Kolb of the Kearney-Holt Fallen Warriors Memorial.

Glenn Hartel

Birthplace and date: Kearney, May 18, 1917                              

Home of record: Kearney

Glenn graduated from Kearney High School in 1935. He farmed with his father until 1940. Just before the war, Hartel was working for Kansas City Structural Steel Company in Kansas. His family included brothers, Donald and Jimmie, as well as sister Mrs. Orville Neth. They were members of the Arley Methodist Church. He was drafted in December 1942.

Joining the ranks of the 28th Infantry Division (originally a Pennsylvania National Guard unit), Hartel arrived with his regiment in England on Oct. 18, 1943, spending the next nine months there training for the “big” invasion. His regiment, the 112th Infantry, landed in France on July 22, 1944, well after the Normandy landings. The 28th was quickly thrust into the hedgerow struggle north and west of St. Lo, encountering desperate German opposition. Division elements took Percy on August 1 and then Gathemo on August 10, the day Hartel lost his life. This was only 18 days after he landed on French soil.

An Arley memorial service was held for him that October. But his remains were not returned home for four years. A grave side service took place Sept. 12, 1948. Today, his name is etched on the WWII 28th Division Memorial in Boalsburg, Pa., which was dedicated in 1997. The 28th Division counted 2,683 combat deaths in WWII.   

Loma Hash

Birthplace and date: Yosemite, Kentucky, Feb. 28, 1910            

Home of record: Kansas City

Loma came to Clay County as a young boy and was raised on a farm near Liberty. His wife, Mildred, was from Kearney. Not only Loma, but his wife, her parents and his parents found their final resting place in Kearney. Interestingly, for many years a small monument to Hash stood in Kearney. Even though he was married with three children (tragically, three others died) and beyond draft age, Loma did not contest his draft notice. At the time of induction at Fort Leavenworth, March 30, 1944, he was working for Sheffield Steel Company near Independence.

He went overseas in October 1944. His outfit, the 100th Infantry Division, fought a fierce battle around Bitche, France, finally capturing the town on March 16, 1945. After crossing the Rhine River at month’s end, the 398th Infantry crossed the Neckar River at Neckargartach and established a bridgehead amidst heavy combat. While attempting to expand its Offenau bridgehead, the regiment fought the battle for Jagstfeld between April 6 and 11. Hash was killed in action April 7 on the slope of Hill 2109.

Hash posthumously received the second highest award for valor in combat, the Distinguished Service Cross, for his actions that day. Single-handedly taking out a German machine gun emplacement, he killed three of the enemy. After capturing two Germans, they treacherously fired on his men so he was forced to kill them. He was then killed charging another position. Temporarily buried in the American Military Cemetery at Bensheim, Germany, his remains were shipped home in July 1948 and on August 12 interred in the Kearney cemetery.             

The memorial in Jesse James Park will serve as a permanent site of remembrance, a focal point for Memorial and Veterans Day activities. Remembering the names and lives of those who gave all is a sacred obligation, and today all three communities can be proud that this debt has been symbolically paid in full. The Memorial will be dedicated on Memorial Day, 2024.

Brian Watts contributed to this story.