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Monument to be Dedicated in Honor of Sabetha Veteran

By Greg Bebermeyer

05/25/2017

Sgt. Major Wilbur Bestwick

(KNZA)--A monument will be dedicated, and ballfield renamed, in honor of a Sabetha native who became the first Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps in 1957.

A dedication ceremony for the newly constructed Sgt. Major Wilbur Bestwick memorial will take place Saturday afternoon, beginning at 2:00, at Sabetha’s Somerset Park on North 6th Street.

The baseball field at Somerset Park will also be officially renamed and dedicated Wilbur Bestwick Field in honor of the local hero.

U.S. Senator Pat Roberts plans to attend the dedication ceremony. Roberts is the most senior Marine in the Senate and founder of the U.S. Senate Marine Corps Caucus.

The public is invited to attend and encouraged to bring lawn chairs.

Bestwick enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1934. He served as Sergeant Major until his retirement from active duty in 1959. Bestwick served in World War II and the Korean War. He died in July 1972.

A committee that included members of the Bestwick family, Sabetha American Legion, Sabetha VFW and Sabetha Chamber of Commerce worked to make the monument a realty.

An American Flag and Marine Corps Flag, which will be illuminated at all times, grace the limestone monument.

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