Researching Radnor's Fallen Soldiers

Across this country, our monuments to soldiers are fading. And so are the memories of the men and women whose names are listed on them.

In Radnor, some people are hoping to stop the forgetting and keep fallen soldiers alive.

Over the next month, eighth-graders at in Wayne have “adopted” soldiers from Radnor who died in World War I. They will research them with the help of the and and record what they find out about their lives.

The program is being led by , commander of the Bateman-Gallagher American Legion Post in Wayne and , a monument preservationist.

“You have to hold the torch for us who are not going to be around for a long time,” Costello told the students, whom he referred to as “citizens of this great country."

He told the students to take on the responsibility to “remember those who passed before us.”

“They were people just like you,” he said.

Groups of four will each research and report on one soldier. The names come from Radnor’s war memorial.

Eighth-grader Connor Gallagher says he does not know if he is related to Capt. Edward Gallagher, one of the people the American Legion post is named after, but “I’m intrigued by it,” he said.