To elaborate on last night’s summary, in a unanimous decision during their December 15, 2025, meeting, the Cumberland County Commission approved Resolution 12-2025-3, authorizing the use of county-owned property in downtown Crossville, Tennessee, for the placement of a bronze statue honoring First Sergeant Milo Lemert, the county’s only recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Lemert, born in Iowa in 1890 and a resident of Crossville after his family relocated, enlisted in the Tennessee National Guard in 1917 and served with the 30th Infantry Division during World War I. On September 29, 1918, near Bellicourt, France, he single-handedly charged and destroyed three enemy machine gun nests with grenades, despite heavy fire, and was mortally wounded while attacking a fourth—actions that earned him the nation’s highest military honor posthumously.

The Milo Lemert Statue Committee, in collaboration with county officials and supported by the American Legion of Tennessee, is spearheading the project to create a small memorial park between the Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce and the Military Memorial Museum of the Upper Cumberland. The centerpiece will be a life-size statue of Lemert positioned in front of an existing gazebo, which will receive minor upgrades, with the entire area to be named the Milo Lemert Medal of Honor Memorial Park. Funding for the statue and park improvements will come entirely from private donations and grants, placing no financial burden on taxpayers.

This initiative builds on longstanding efforts to commemorate Lemert’s legacy in Cumberland County, where sites such as the Milo Lemert Memorial Building (a former post office), Milo Lemert Memorial Parkway, and his gravesite in Crossville City Cemetery already bear his name, reflecting the community’s enduring pride in its lone Medal of Honor hero.