Reilly Memorial ... A Schuylkill 100 Geocache
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The Reilly Township Memorial is located along State Route 209 at the intersection of a municipal road that leads toward the village of Forestville. This memorial pays tribute to all those that served their country in times of war.
As I visited this site, read the inscription and also read the names and information of seven township men, on individual stone markers, that gave their lives for their country, I realized that some of these men played a part in my life. The main monument reads:
DEDICATED-IN-HONOR-OF-THE-MEN-AND-WOMEN-
OF-THIS-COMMUNITY-WHO-SERVED-IN-THE-ARMED-
FORCES-OF-THE-UNITED-STATES-OF-AMERICAN-IN-
WORLD WAR I-WORLD WAR II-KOREAN-VIETNAM
Erected by the Wainwright Club 1958
The seven additional stones that pay tribute to those men that lost their lives in these wars are as follows:
1) David W. Rowlands, Pvt US Army, World War I
Oct. 20, 1892 + Sept. 6, 1918
2) V. Fenton Devlin, Pvt US Army, World War I
Apr. 2, 1896 + Nov. 13, 1918
3) Edmund J. Brennan, 1st Lt. Army Air Force, World War II
Dec. 26, 1918 + April 12, 1944
4) George Popovich, Pfc US Army, World War II
July 17, 1920 + Sept. 9, 1944
5) John C. Slinski Jr, S-1C U.S. Navy, World War II
Mar. 6, 1925 + Nov. 22, 1944
6) Andrew P. Kralick, Sgt U.S. Army, Korean War
Aug. 3, 1930 + Jan. 31, 1951
7) William D. Eltringham, SP 5 US Army, Vietnam War
Feb. 24, 1945 + Feb. 6, 1968
As I read the names, two name jump out at me. I was in third grade in 1968 at St. Mary’s when I heard of a soldier from town that had died in the war. His mother lived only a couple houses from the school. For many years after that, as I would see her, by her home as I was at school, I thought of her sadness she must have felt in loosing her son.
The other name that hit home was the first name: David Rowlands. He was an uncle of my grandmother Anna (Rowlands) Gleason. Several months after my grandmother passed away in 1999, looking through old family pictures and notes, we saw a connection between David W. Rowlands and my grandmother. My grandmother and David Rowlands both died on September 6, but 91 years apart. David in 1918, my grandmother in 1999 and my grandmother was 91 years old at the time of her death.
Small container. Bring a pencil or pen.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
fueho