Examples found across the country.
Among the nearly 3,900 entries on The American Legion’s online memorial database are a number across the country that include a bell, whether indoors or outdoors.
Mountain View Cemetery Bell, Mountain Home, Idaho: “Erected by The American Legion in memory of veterans of all wars, for they gave so much. Dedicated Memorial Day 1963.”
USS Chicago Bell Memorial, Chicago: “This bell, with a date inscribed on 1893, apparently served on one of the U.S. Navy vessels known as USS Chicago.” It is located on Navy Pier.
The Veterans Bell Memorial, Montrose, Mich.: “A 30-foot-diameter octagon-shaped building housing the 4000-lb. stainless steel Veterans Bell. Individual veterans’ photo and information, for whom a donation is received to help maintain the memorial, is displayed in the building. Any U.S. military veteran from any service era and any state may be included in the memorial.”
Memorial Bell Tower, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C.: “At 115 feet tall, this memorial contains 1,400 tons of concrete and sits on a 700-ton concrete base. The Bell Tower does not actually contain bells, but rather speakers that are controlled from nearby Holladay Hall. On the cornerstone of the Bell Tower: DEDICATED BY THE ALUMNI TO THE GLORY OF ALMIGHTY GOD AND IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO SERVED THEIR COUNTRY IN THE WAR. Officially, 33 NCSU alumni died in World War I, but the plaque bears 34 names. G. L. Jeffers, Class of '13, was reported as killed in action, but this was a mistake. When the plaque was made many years later, the list including Jeffers’ name was provided to the manufacturer. When the mistake was realized, the decision was made to simply alter the inscription of Jeffers’ name to make it unrecognizable. Thus it was changed to G. E. Jefferson, and serves as a symbol of unknown soldiers from NCSU and elsewhere.”
Bladen County Veterans Bell, Elizabethtown, N.C.: “Front: IN HONOR OF BLADEN COUNTY PATRIOTS / THOSE WHO HAVE SERVED THEIR COUNTRY IN THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM / THOSE WHO HAVE FOUGHT IN ALL WARS AND THOSE WHO HAVE GIVEN THEIR LIVES / THAT WE MIGHT BE A FREE PEOPLE. Rear: BLADEN COUNTY COURTHOUSE BELL.”
- Honor & Remembrance