On Saturday, December 16, thousands of volunteers gathered at Arlington National Cemetery to place wreaths at gravestones as part of the national Wreaths Across America campaign. Sgt. Glenn Fishbaugh and Pvt Clarence Baxter were two of the graves adorned. Fishbaugh was wounded in France in September 1918 and died the following month; Baxter succumbed to the Spanish Influenza epidemic while serving in France in October 1918, during the closing months of World War I. Both men will be chronicled in a book being published this spring for the 100th Anniversary of the United States’ participation in World War I. Funded in part with a grant from the Monroe County Historian’s office and sponsored by the Parma-Hilton Historical Society, the book initially focused on the 99 names of Hilton-Parma area men enshrined on an Honor Roll painted in 1919.
Further research uncovered an additional 60 men – and one woman – from the area who also served in the Armed Forces, medical support roles and other volunteer organizations, with many being stationed overseas. The Parma Hilton Historical Society expects to unveil the book on Memorial Day 2018.
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