Anthon memorial wall will rise again

By Tim Gallagher, Journal staff writer | Posted: Thursday, September 25, 2008

ANTHON, Iowa -- They'll gather Friday to salute Frank O. "Red" Diamond, a soldier who toted an automatic weapon in the infantry while traipsing through France and Germany six decades ago.

"Red" earned a Silver Star for turning back a German counterattack. He was later shot and almost lost a finger.

He came home to Anthon and earned a living as a mail carrier. He died Monday at age 87. His funeral is Friday.

I met his brother, Ralph Diamond, Wednesday morning at the memorial wall funded and constructed a dozen years ago by the McNiff Post 389 in downtown Anthon. The brick monument that shows 720 names of Anthon's war-time veterans is falling apart. Moisture is getting into the interior of the 12-year-old structure. The freeze-thaw-freeze cycle forced dozens of bricks to crack or pop off, Ralph said.

The process is called spalling.

Men like "Red" deserve better.

Members of American Legion McNiff Post 389 met Monday to discuss options. They've decided to take the bricks down and add at least two inches in the narrow wall, allowing room for vertical air vents at the east and west ends. The vents, they hope, will keep moisture from settling within the monument.

"We were told we had the equivalent of 55 gallons of water in that cavity," said Joe Harbaugh, a member of McNiff Post 389 and a promoter of this project.

Who is at fault? This was, after all, a $30,000 endeavor. It should have lasted longer than 12 years.

"We're not blaming it on anybody," said Harbaugh. "It's just that we have this problem with the moisture, maybe because this sets in a north-south direction. We were told that the sun heats the water trapped in the south side and sends it through the pores into the bricks with the names on the north side.

"We're not really sure," he added. "We just want to see it get fixed."

It will take money. Harbaugh speculates reconstruction could run in excess of $10,000. So, they're going hat-in-hand to family members who the first time around gave anywhere from $15 to hundreds of dollars for their veteran to be remembered.

The trouble? "We've lost touch with a lot of them," Ralph Diamond said.

Many have since died, especially World War II soldiers, men like "Red" Diamond. A few years ago there were 20 World War II veterans in this legion organization. Only 12 remain.

"That's where you might help us," Harbaugh said to me. "Maybe if you could get the word out, we might have people with a connection to Anthon who might be able to either help us financially, or help us locate a relative of a veteran."

Those wishing to give may write to the American Legion McNiff Post 389 in Anthon. The zip code is 51004.

There's another reason Harbaugh and Diamond met with me Wednesday: They don't want other communities to face this predicament.

"I'd really like to save other towns the headache," Harbaugh said. "We didn't intend this to happen. We've sure learned a lot."

The veterans know their fellow soldiers -- and their neighbors and family members around Anthon -- deserve better. With thoughts of soldiers like "Red" Diamond in mind, they're working on it.

"Oh, my brother was happy with the way the memorial turned out," Ralph Diamond said. "All of us were."

They will be again.