Spang-Chalfant Veterans Memorial

Today is Veterans Day, so it seemed like an apt day to post this:

Spang-Chalfant Veterans Memorial
Beaver Valley Times
July 15, 1954

Original caption:

SPANG-CHALFANT MEMORIAL -- John Delai, left, and Lawrence McCandless, right, read the inscription on the new memorial bronze plaque erected in honor of employes of Spang-Chalfant Division of National Supply Company, Ambridge, who served in the U. S. Armed Forces.

According to the article that appeared with this photo, this memorial was a replacement for one that had been erected during WWII, but had deteriorated due to weather.

The new memorial, designed by two employees of Spang's industrial relations department, Lee Crane and William Cramer, was designed to withstand weather and be a "perpetual memorial." The bronze plaque was mounted on a wall 10 feet high and 8 feet wide built with 1,500 bricks, topped with a limestone slab, and resting on a concrete base.

The memorial plaque, minus its wall, is now in Ambridge's P.J. Caul Park on 11th and Merchant Sts.

Spang-Chalfant Veterans Memorial
P. J. Caul Park
March 22, 2014
credit: Nancy Knisley

The plaque's inscription reads:

SPANG

    This tablet is dedicated
    in sincere tribute to our employees
    both living and dead, who anwered
    the call of duty to serve in the armed forces
    of the United States.
    * * * * * * * * *
    Let us cherish the sacred memory of
    their struggle to preserve our American heritage, that government
    of the people, by the people,
    for the people shall not
    perish from the earth.

    Spang-Chalfant
    Division of the
    National Supply Company

Update November 12, 2015:

The wall that the plaque was on still stands on the property of the Ambridge Regional Distribution & Manufacturing Center. The photo below was provided by Debi Leopardi, Managing Director.

Spang-Chalfant Veterans Memorial Wall
Ambridge Regional Distribution and Manufacturing Center
November 12, 2015