The World War I memorial at Veterans Memorial Plaza in Delaware, Ohio (left) now contains a brick honoring World War I veteran John List Carroll. Standing next to Carroll's grave (right) Mike Serrott holds the brick engraved in honor of Carroll. In September, the brick was placed in the WWI memorial
Ohio World War I vet honored century later
By Dillon Davis
via the Delaware Gazette (OH) newspaper web site
Oak Grove Cemetery in Delaware serves as the final resting place for veterans of every war in which the United States has been involved. When Mike Serrott and his coworkers decided they wanted to honor one of them with a brick at the Veterans Memorial Plaza located at the Ohio Army National Guard Readiness Center on South Houk Road, Serrott knew exactly where to look.
Serrott, who works for the City of Delaware’s Parks and Natural Resources Department, assists at Oak Grove Cemetery, while also tending to the Veterans Memorial Plaza. Looking for a veteran to honor as part of Memorial Day, he had no shortage of options as he went to Oak Grove to complete his search.
Aside from simply representing a veteran at the plaza, however, Serrott sought out a veteran from America’s earlier wars, which didn’t have the same representation at the plaza as wars such as World War II or Vietnam. Specifically, Serrott was hoping to identify a veteran from World War I or earlier to receive the honor. Among all the thousands of gravesites at the cemetery, one, in particular, would stand out, making it an easy decision for Serrott as to who would receive the honor.
Just off of one of Oak Grove’s many winding roads, which Serrott drives nearly every day, sits a gravestone for the Carroll family. Among those buried at the site is John Carroll, a Delaware resident born in 1893 who would go on to attend Ohio Wesleyan University.
Carroll was shipped to Europe following the United States’ involvement in World War I, serving in the 147th Field Hospital. While in Europe, he developed appendicitis and was removed from battle to a hospital in France. While on the mend, Carroll was stricken with influenza, commonly known as the Spanish Flu, and died on Jan. 27, 1919.
Read the entire article on the Delaware Gazette web site here:
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