Straight east from the Veterans Memorial is Ireton’s Civil War monument. The monument of a civil war soldier was erected by Launtz (or Lantz) Post 215 of the GAR in May of 1919 and dedicated on Memorial Day, May 30, 1919. It consists of a life-size bronze statue of a Civil War soldier atop a granite obelisk, a centerpiece and then a larger base. Engraved on the obelisk is the following: “To The Memory Of The Men Who Fought For Our Country And Are Buried In The Ireton Cemetery”. On the centerpiece is engraved: 1861-1865.
The east side is engraved with the names of Civil War veterans who were buried at Pleasant Hill before the monument was dedicated: Lyman B. Bailey, W. B. Burright, Wm. J. Bushby, Hugh Davison, James Everhart, Ephraim French, Alfred Fisher, Charles J. Follett, Porter Fosburg, Joseph H. Hardacre, W. I. Knowlton, Henry H. Lantz, William Morgan, Alexander Morrison, Frederick D. Parker, A. Sherman, Capt. Martin Suter, Charles P. Tarbox, John J. Taylor, James Thomas, Simon Wells, D. W. Wing and Samuel D. Woodford.
Since the monument was dedicated just a year after the end of World War I, the west side is engraved with the names of the men who died in the Great War: Jake Levering, George H. Ricklefs, Lieut. Robert S. Johnson, Fred Dannenbring, Edward Bertram, Edward R. Brown, Emery M. Cox and Casper Thomte.
The north side of the monument was engraved with the names of the committee who planned it and raised funds for it: L. M. Black, J. C. Emery and Fred Franke. In more recent years, Bertram Post added a bronze plaque with the names of servicemen and women who died in later conflicts: World War II: Robert C. Cooper, Howard W. Dirks, Arthur S. Larson, Harold W. Marienau, Leo C. Rohlfs, Reuben C. Schipper and Theodore Schneider; Korea: Glenn Van Engen (who actually died in Greenland in 1948) and Marlin N. Walraven; and Vietnam: Rosalie V. Bertram, Bruce D. Liston and Terry M. Westergard.
The base and granite obelisk were created by the Hawarden Monument Works, brought to Ireton by train and then taken to the cemetery by horse and wagon. We have not found a record of the company casting the soldier; however, the statue arrived separately from the base — just barely in time for the dedication. As the Ireton Clipper reported: “Several people have received a scare while visiting the cemetery the past few days. The cause of it all was the box or crate containing the bronze statue of the soldier which is to top the beautiful soldiers’ monument. This piece of statuary lying there was a surprise to many and more than they were ready for, coming on it in an unexpected way. It does look like the body of a dead soldier all right pillowed in the box, and after seeing it, it is not so much of a wonder to us that some got their nerves on edge, but gracing the monument it is certainly a fine setting and it is a noble piece seemingly on the watch tower guarding the city of the dead.”
