Fort Howard Remembers Its Fallen Sons

The tiny communities of Fort Howard and Edgemere have always been proud and willing when it came time to defend the nation.

From the War of 1812 to this day, first the sons and then the daughters of the North Point peninsula have stepped forward to protect and preserve the ideals of their nation.

Over the years, most of those brave young people have returned to the peninsula and resumed their lives with their loved ones, but many weren't as lucky.

The community gathered on Monday to remember those fallen neighbors when the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, North Point Lodge No. 4 held its annual Memorial Day ceremony.

Gathered around a World War II memorial monument at Fort Howard Veterans Park, lodge members led a ceremony that thanked all who have served in the military while recognizing and remembering those who gave their lives for their country.

Master of Ceremonies Harry Wilkins talked of the brave citizen soldiers who took on the British when they marched through the community during the Battle of North Point in 1814 in their effort to take back the young United States of America.

The local soldiers held back the British Royal Marines, which Wilkins said was the world's most powerful at the time.

The British had already "burned Washington, D.C. to the ground and were on their way to Baltimore," he said, when they encountered more resistance than they expected on the North Point peninsula.

It was enough resistance to ensure that Baltimore would not be taken and the British were turned back.

From the War of 1812 to the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, "there's a strong history in this community" of men and women serving their country, Wilkins said.

"Every generation has been asked to do that and every generation has responded," he said.

The monument at the park is proof of both the community's willingness to serve and its promise to never forget that service.

The names of 150 residents are engraved in the stone marker—148 sons and two daughters—who left their families to fight in World War II.

Seven of the names stand out because of small starts to the right of each — signifying that they sacrificed their lives while defending their nation.

The monument was erected in 1945 after a door-to-door campaign throughout the communities of Edgemere and Fort Howard raised enough money to honor the soldiers who in future years would be dubbed the "greatest generation."

Sixty-seven years later, emotions still run high as those lives are remembered.

The Rev. Don warner Jr., pastor of Penwood Christian Church, choked up a couple of times and had trouble continuing with his comments as he delivered opening and closing prayers at the ceremony.

His father, Don Warner Sr., is listed on the monument and was at Monday's ceremony. The son choked up as he told the crowd how proud he is of his father and others like him.

The elder Warner was joined by WWII comrades Charlie Roupe and Don Brown at the ceremony attended by about 100 people.

In his prayer, the younger Warner asked God to give families the strength to face the day without their loved ones who don't return from war.

"As war rages on, protect they who protect us, bring home those who have fallen and heal those who return injured," Warner asked of God.

The ceremony ended with the reading of the names of those local sons known to have been lost to war.

"We do that because if you're a member of this community and you died while serving your country, we're never going to forget you," Wilkins said.

The names were read and a bell tolled for each.

And indeed they are not forgotten.