Memorial Day in the Midlands: Remembering those who gave their lives

Want a good way to honor those who lost their lives in U.S. conflicts this Memorial Day?

You could visit one of the Midlands’ many memorials to soliders, airmen, seamen and Marines – and military dogs – who perished in those wars.

Here’s a sampling of area memorials:

VIETNAM WAR DOGS

Memorial name: Vietnam War Dog Memorial

Where it is: Memorial Park, 700 Hampton St., Columbia

What you’ll see: A relatively new addition to the park is this bronze statue of a handler and his German shepherd. The kneeling soldier is about 7 feet tall and weighs 1,400 pounds. The statue of the dog stands 4 feet tall and weighs 300 pounds. The work memorializes the 4,000 scout dogs who served in Vietnam. Sadly, in addition to the nearly 800 who died of wounds or disease, 2,000 were euthanized at the war’s end.

FORT JACKSON NATIONAL CEMETERY

Memorial name: Fort Jackson National Cemetery

Where it is: 4170 Percival Road, Columbia

What you’ll see: It is solemn. The 585-acre national cemetery was completed in June 2015 and will serve veterans’ needs well into the next century. The completed 50-acre interment area provides 5,704 full-casket gravesites, including 4,224 pre-placed crypts, 1,085 in-ground cremation sites and 2,000 columbarium niches.

KOREAN WAR

Memorial name: Korean War Memorial

Where it is: Memorial Park, 700 Hampton St., Columbia

What you’ll see: This 7-foot-9-inch bronze sculpture depicts a Korean War soldier marching grimly up a rocky slope, his poncho whipping around him in the cruel Korean winter. It was dedicated in 2000, on the 50th anniversary of the war’s start, to honor those who fell in the “Forgotten War.”

CHINA, INDIA, BURMA THEATER – WORLD WAR II

Memorial name: China-Burma-India Veterans Memorial

Where it is: Memorial Park, 700 Hampton St., Columbia

What you’ll see: A simple stone monument hosts a bronze plaque honoring World War II veterans who served in the China-Burma-India theater of the war. Sitting beside a walking bridge and creek at Memorial Park, the memorial was dedicated Nov. 9, 1990.

WORLD WAR II, KOREA, VIETNAM

Memorial name: Lexington County Veterans Monument

Where it is: A block south of the U.S. 1-S.C. 6 intersection, Lexington County

What you’ll see: This 31-foot granite obelisk is inscribed with quotes from journalist Ernie Pyle, Gen. William Westmoreland, Gen. Douglas MacArthur and John Quincy Adams, the sixth U.S. president. Dedicated Nov. 11, 2002, the monument honors the veterans and people on the home front during World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Adams’ quote: “Posterity: You will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it.”

WORLD WAR I

Memorial name: The E.M. Viquesney Doughboy

Where it is: In the median at intersection of Whaley and Wayne streets (where Wayne becomes Olympia Avenue), in Columbia’s Olympia neighborhood

What you’ll see: The “doughboy,” a nickname for an infantryman, was presented by the people of the Pacific Community mill village on Nov. 11, 1930. The cost of the statue and its base was raised by committee members from the nearby Olympia and Granby textile mills. It was refurbished and re-landscaped in 2002 after part of the soldier’s rifle went missing.

PEARL HARBOR – WORLD WAR II

Memorial name: Pearl Harbor Monument

Where it is: Memorial Park, 700 Hampton St., Columbia

What you’ll see: This monument honors the 25 men from South Carolina who died during the Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base in Hawaii that brought the United States into World War II. The men’s names are listed on the back of the monument, with commemorative bricks with the names of Pearl Harbor survivors – “wives, widows, sons, daughters” – featured on the brick walkway leading to the monument. It was dedicated Sept. 2, 1995.

VIETNAM WAR

Memorial name: S.C. Vietnam Monument

Where it is: Memorial Park, 700 Hampton St., Columbia

What you’ll see: Designed by renowned sculptor Irwin Hyman, this is one of the largest Vietnam memorials in the United States outside of Washington, D.C. The names of the 980 South Carolinians who died in the conflict that lasted longer than a decade are engraved on its granite walls. It was dedicated Nov. 11, 1986. The Columbia chapter of Vietnam Veterans Of America is holding a ceremony at the monument at 1 p.m. Monday.