ONE OF TWO SIGNS MARKING the Private Wesley Vietti Karna Memorial Highway is located just outside South Range near the road to the South Range Cemetery where Karna is buried. The other sign is in Painesdale. Karna was killed on Sept. 24, 1944, while serving in northern Tuscany, Italy during World War II. (Photo: Graham Jaehnig/Daily Mining Gazette)
ADAMS TOWNSHIP – A 3-mile stretch of M-26 in Adams Township was officially designated the Private Wesley Vietti Karna Memorial Highway after Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the bill last month.
State Rep. Greg Markkanen introduced the bill to name the section of M-26 in February.
A ceremony was held Friday at the South Range VFW Post to unveil a replica of the new state highway sign.
Brad Uren, Karna’s great-nephew, who worked closely with Markkanen and U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman on the project to erect a memorial to Karna, was present at the ceremony.
“It’s a great day,” Said Uren. “I’m really happy that all the work has come to this conclusion. I couldn’t be happier.”
Uren said the project was a team effort.
“You can’t get something like this done without a lot of people working on it. We have a long list of people who have contributed to it.”
Markkanen agreed, saying it would take the cooperation of many people to get the bill through committee in Lansing, then through the House and Senate, and finally through Whitmer’s signature.
“It is a real honor for the community, for the family, and I am happy to be here,” said Markkanen.
Karna’s nephew, who is named after Wesley, said that although he did not know Wesley, his uncle was always a very important part of his life.
“He died in September 1944” Wesley Karna said: “And I was born in January 1945. My father asked Wesley’s mother if he could name his newborn son Wesley, in Wesley’s honor; that’s how I came up with the name.”
The loss of Wesley’s mother hit her hard, Karna says, but just a few years later her suffering was made even worse when her husband, Wesley Vietti’s father, was killed in a mining accident.
“This has brought the whole family much closer together,” Karna said: “And Grandma – she treated me special just because of my name.”
Karna was a private in Company F, 2nd Battalion, 362nd Infantry Regiment, 91st Division, II Corps, Fifth U.S. Army.
On September 24, 1944, one month after his 22nd birthday, Karna was killed in action at the Gothic Line in northern Tuscany, northern Italy. He was awarded the Purple Heart. Karna’s remains came home in 1948. He is buried in Mountain View Cemetery in South Range, on the same street where he grew up.
