The monument is a stone (granite) marker in the Coldwater, Ohio, municipal park (Memorial Park) near the swimming pool. It was a project of and funded by the American Legion in Coldwater.

The master inscription reads, "THESE MEN GAVE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE". The stone bears the names of the war dead from that community in WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. My father's name is on the marker, even though he was from Indiana. Mother's address was Coldwater and thus it became his adopted home of record!

The names inscribed on the stone from WWII are William A. Bettinger, Paul A. Buschur, Walter W. Diller, Othmar Klosterman, Russel K. Reed, Robert V. Reno (my Dad), Herbert A. Sanning, Luke O. Schockman, William J. Schockman, and Francis J. Stelzer.

Of interest, one of the WWI dead whose name is inscribed is my great-uncle Herbert Gottes. Eerie looking at a stone that only has 23 names on it, and two of them are in my family.

My mother and I visit the Coldwater, Celina, St. Henry, Ohio area frequently. All of her family came from that part of Ohio. She ran into a friend of hers who asked if she had seen the memorial stone at the Memorial Park in Coldwater that had my father's name on it. We went to see it, and fortunately I had my camera. This was two summers ago in 2001.

The stone had been up for a few years; I have no idea how long it has been there. And, perhaps, the most interesting part to me is that my Dad was not from that area! He was born and raised in Indiana, but Mother was living in Coldwater with her parents and my brother when Dad was killed. So Ohio was the address of "home" as far as the paperwork was concerned!

Sometimes it's a good idea to be aware of where our mothers were living when our dads died. In this particular case, if we had not had family to visit, I know I may not have ever seen this memorial. What a blessing it was to find!

The picture and story were submitted 10/02 by Brigitt Reno Caito,
Daughter of Cpl. Robert Vere Reno Third Army, 71st Infantry Division, 14th Infantry,
Company E., 1st Platoon KIA, Germany April 1, 1945 Buried in Winchester, IN