For his Eagle Scout project, Signal Mountain resident Turner Eades refurbished the town’s World War II Memorial Park. (Contributed photo)At the corner of James Boulevard and Timberlinks Drive, a well-trafficked intersection in Signal Mountain, sits a small park and stone fountain. On the back of the fountain is a plaque listing the names of 21 men from the town who died serving their country in World War II, thus the park was dedicated in 1956 as World War II Memorial Park.
Even though many people pass the intersection almost every day on their way to Nolan Elementary, Signal Mountain Middle/High School and the Signal Mountain Golf and Country Club, few are aware of the park or what it symbolizes, said Signal Mountain Boy Scout Turner Eades. The ninth-grader set out to change this while earning his Eagle Scout rank.
“No one really knew about it, including my troop,” said Turner, adding that he felt it was a shame, especially considering that it memorializes about the same number of men that would have made up an entire senior class at that time.
“It was a large portion of the population,” said Rita Smith Irvin, who was a child when the memorial was dedicated in 1956. “It was quite a shake-up to the community.”
Turner Eades stands by the fountain at the World War II Memorial Park containing a plaque listing the names of the 21 men from Signal Mountain who were killed during the war. (Staff photo by Emily Crisman)After decades of neglect, parts of the stone path running through the park had become overgrown and were no longer visible, poison ivy was growing everywhere, and the monument needed to be cleaned. So this summer, Turner gathered about 20 volunteers, most of whom were fellow Scouts, to clear the path and the retaining wall surrounding the park, as well as pressure wash the monument and remove the poison ivy.