Jersey County Board Donates $50,000 Towards Grafton's National Memorial Of Military Ascent

20 January 2026 Grafton City Council Meeting

GRAFTON – The National Memorial of Military Ascent being built in Grafton recently got a $50,000 boost from the Jersey County Board.

At the Jan. 20, 2026 Grafton City Council meeting, members of the Jersey County Board donated $50,000 towards the completion and promotion of the National Memorial of Military Ascent.

Jersey County Board members in attendance included Chairman Gary Krueger and Finance Chairman Kara Ontis, as well as Jersey County Tourism Board Chairman Mark Wagner.

“We’re honored to make a donation to the military memorial of $50,000 out of our Tourism Fund to help in the promotion,” Krueger said. “I think this is a meaningful endeavor and I think it’s going to help the county and community a lot.”

Grafton Mayor Mike Morrow said the city is “honored” to receive the board’s generous donation of $50,000, which he added “is going to go an absolutely long way” towards completing the memorial.

Once completed, the memorial will feature a life-sized reproduction along the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River depicting U.S. Army Rangers climbing the Pointe du Hoc cliffs on Omaha Beach in Normandy as part of the initial D-Day landings during World War II. The first of 12 bronze statues to be featured in the memorial was unveiled at a ceremony on May 12, 2025.

The large-scale memorial project is being made possible through donations from several local businesses and organizations, including $2.5 million from Jayne and John Simmons and the Simmons Hanly Conroy Law Firm, $15,000 from the Alton-Godfrey Rotary Club, $10,000 from Jerseyville Carrollton Bank, $2,500 from the Grafton Whelan-Hill American Legion Post 648, and more.

A full recording of the Jan. 20, 2026 Grafton City Council meeting is available at the top of this story or on Riverbender.com/video.

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