Mantua – Last Monday, Bonnie Zoller Collier and Tim Benner looked on as an impressive black stone was set on a foundation in Mantua’s Hilltop Cemetery on a crisp autumn morning. The large marker represents the local servicemen who were killed in action while fighting on behalf of the United States military forces. While the names of five servicemen are listed, the pair was particularly honored to see one of the names etched in stone on the new memorial, that of Robert W. Zoller II.
While workers completed the installation, the pair reminisced about Bonnie’s brother, “Bobby”. Collier was 13 when her brother was killed a few days before Independence Day in 1970. She remembered her older brother as a fun-loving, good guy, loved by all who knew him. Benner remembered looking up to the elder Zoller, noting how deeply the loss affected not only Zoller’s family and friends, but the entire community. The tiny village lost three of its sons in World War II and two during the American War in Vietnam since the village opened Hilltop Cemetery in 1901.
When local history buff Tim Benner had the inspiration to create a monument to remember the brave local servicemen who paid the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of their country, it didn’t take long for local people to rally around this worthy mission. This was a village project, not a private project,” Benner noted. He explained, once the idea was presented and approved by the Cemetery Board, Mayor Clark and Council unanimously approved the project, which was met with overwhelming support from the community last spring. In order to avoid material delays and insure the project would move forward swiftly, Bonnie made a sizable donation for the project. “It’s important to remember their sacrifice,” Bonnie Zoller Collier explained, “especially right now.”
Benner agreed, recalling that throughout his life, he attending Memorial Day observances there, first as a child, and then as a member of the Mantua-Shalersville Fire Department. It always struck him that while there was a basic military memorial, there was no mention of those killed in action. “I felt like we were missing something,” he explained. The community echoed that feeling, since the project received roughly $7,000 in private donations within six weeks, more than enough to cover the estimated $5,000 cost to have the stone crafted and installed. The extra funds will be used for maintenance and improvements to the monument.
Those memorialized on the monument include USAAF CPL Ellis L. March Jr. and USNR AMM Jack R. Van Benshoten, who were both lost as sea during WWII. While their bodies were never recovered, they are both memorialized in a military cemetery near where they perished in the UK. Army Captain Claude H. Crafts also perished in WWII. He has a headstone in a family plot at Hilltop, as do Marine LCPL Kenneth R. Keefer and Army SP4 Robert W. Zoller II, who both lost their lives fighting in Vietnam.
While these five gentlemen are listed on the monument’s face, the back has the inscription, “All gave some, some gave all.” In the unfortunate event that future local servicemen and women are killed in action, their sacrifice will be remembered and honored here as well. Ohio Monument Foundations from Dalton, Ohio set the stone in place. The monument will be dedicated on at the Village Memorial Day observance in 2022.
According to Benner, Mantua Township is currently working on erecting a similar monument to recognize those killed in action. Research has uncovered those lost during World War I and II, Korea, and Vietnam. Benner noted that Lynn Harvey and Linda Ehlert from the Mantua Township Historical Society are conducting research on the local soldiers lost in the Civil War and the War of 1812 to be included on the monument as well. “We’re doing everything we can to make sure these people aren’t lost to time,” Benner vowed. The township hopes to construct and dedicate their monument at Memorial Day 2022 observances as well.
