American legion Post 249 is filled with the faces of history during the winter months, as Strattanville’s 213 veterans posters are displayed in four rooms of the borough’s former schoolhouse.
And, each of the faces has a story to tell – even going back to the Civil War.
One of Tom Lewis’ favorite stories, because it is “unique,” is that of Pvt. George M. Dallas Johnson.
However, Lewis said, one night after the end of the war a knock came to Johnson’s door. Upon opening the door, Johnson didn’t recognize the man on the other side of it, even though the man said he was his son.
“It was a cold night, so he let the haggard man sleep in his barn,” Lewis said. “During the night, he remembered his son suffered a burn from a stove. The next morning, he asked the former soldier if he had a distinctive scar. When the traveler produced the scar, Mr. Johnson realized this was his son.”
This year, another Civil War soldier will be remembered – Col. Calvin Craig, of the 105th Pennsylvania Volunteers, also known as the Wildcat Regiment.
Craig, a Clarion County native, led the regiment at the Battle of Gettysburg before being killed in action in 1864.
Through the 4-year-old Strattanville veterans banner program, these stories now have faces to them because of an idea that was inspired by another Clarion County community.
“We got the idea when we used to go to Pittsburgh through New Bethlehem,” Lewis said. “They had banners up and I told my wife that was something we need to do. We called the people who made the banners and they helped us immensely.
“We went through the borough and got them involved. Then, we had to go to West Penn Power and they told us what poles we could use.”
Lewis said the American Legion funded the project to get it started. The cost of each banner is $125; they are double-sided and the brackets are included in the cost.
Come October, they are taken down.
“It would be nice to keep them up through Veterans Day, but the weather gets pretty bad then,” Lewis said. “When we take them down we clean each banner on both sides before they go up on the wall. We hang them not only because it looks good, but it keeps them from getting wrinkled.”
In addition, a POW/MIA banner hangs in each room where the banners are displayed.
“All we are is custodians for the people who purchased the banners,” Lewis said.