Sacrifices Remembered

Ray Van Cor

The Greenville Standard

A tap and roll of a snare drum, the ominous echo of Taps in the background set the stage for the Butler County World War One Memorial Dedication Service. The service was held this past
Thursday in front of Chamber of Commerce. “A befitting location,” were the words guest speaker Mr. Nimrod Frazer used, saying, “It was the last place all nineteen men were seen together in Butler County was at the old Depot.” Mr. Frazer’s father was among those nineteen Butler County men who served in the Alabama 167th National Guard assigned to the forty second 42nd Rainbow Division during World War I. Frazer, himself a Harvard Business School graduate, Investment Banker, Historian and published Author of the 2014 acclaimed book, ‘Send the Alabamians’ was also a decorated First Lieutenant of the Korean conflict to include being awarded the Silver Star. Nimrod, to honor his father, dedicated years to researching WWI and the role of the Rainbow Division along with the other 3,677 other Alabamians that served. He is honorary Chairman of the Alabama WWI Centennial Committee, and was honored by the Alabama State Senate with a resolution of commendation and presented the French Legion of Honor in 2017 are among a few of Nimrods accomplishments. The other guest speaker was retired U. S. Army Major Gerald W. Johnson who represented Butler County on the Alabama WWI Centennial Committee. Johnson who is a highly decorated Vietnam Veteran has also served as Greenville’s City planner. Family members of the Butler County nineteen men were recognized during the ceremony and the plaque
commemorating the nineteen Butler County men and their service is officially affixed to the building as a reminder that we as individuals, Butler Countyians, Alabamians and Americans never forget these men and all men who have paid the price for our freedoms.