A Salute To Service: 2026 Veterans Day Special Feature
James Winford Berry, nicknamed “Windie”, joined the Navy after finishing high school in Sylvania. It was partly cloudy and pleasant as he stood on deck one Sunday speaking to another sailor. At 7:55am, Japanese bombs shattered the peace. Windie’s ship, the U.S.S. Arizona, exploded and sank. He was killed along with 1,776 others at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Windie’s brother, Max Berry, also attended Sylvania’s Burnham High School. Like Windie, Max was in the Navy during WWII. He was killed in action 846 days after Windie died.
Sgt. Raymond L. Conrad of Toledo was killed after the Allied Invasion at Normandy, France on July 4, 1944.
Plaques to honor
The Berry brothers and Sgt. Conrad are among 48 service members memorialized with plaques at Sylvania’s Veterans Memorial Park.
New plaques were added this year as part of Sylvania’s America 250 observances organized by Heritage Sylvania. The plaques were dedicated during Memorial Day ceremonies. In 1950, 4,000 people gathered at the park’s Memorial Grove for ceremonies dedicating silver
maple trees and markers as a tribute to local fallen heroes. Larger artifacts including a tank were added later.
New plaques created by Frogtown Woodcraft were added this year at the base of the trees.
“This is a wonderful trove of trees in the back portion of the park,” said Anthony Haddad, chair of Sylvania’s America 250 committee. “I’ve always known about this place, but I never understood what it was really about. At one point, there was a city drainage project that came through here and that’s when I really got involved.”
Each new marker includes a short story. “We wanted to tell a little bit about each soldier. We didn’t want to go too far with it. We just wanted to give a little taste and then leave it open for visitors to explore the story on their own if they’d like,” said Haddad.
Haddad added he will continue to work to honor those killed in action and would like to see new signage and greater access to the memorials area of the park in the future.
