A cease-fire has been reached with a group of World War II merchant mariners who have been waging a battle that has been almost as bitter and definitely longer than the earlier one they fought.

The mariners have notified Butler County commissioners that they will accept the county's offer of free land in downtown Butler's Diamond Park for their own monument.

The mariners believe they have been slighted because the Merchant Marine is not listed on the front of a World War II monument that was erected and dedicated in December 2004 in Diamond Park.

The front of the $450,000 monument honors veterans from the Army, Army Air Corps, Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard. The Merchant Marine is mentioned with about two dozen other groups on the back.

County commissioners were pulled into the dispute because they deeded the park land to the committee that raised funds for the monument -- a committee headed by Butler County Veterans Affairs Director John Cyprian, though his role on the committee was not related to his office.

Commissioners were sued by the mariners, and their efforts to broker a peace were rejected. In September, the commissioners told the Mariners to select in writing one of two options:

• The county would donate land in Diamond Park for the mariners to erect their own memorial.

• The county would place a plaque on the interior wall of the county Government Center across the street from Diamond Park acknowledging the service of the mariners during World War II.

The mariners deliberated for a month and decided Oct. 10 to work on erecting their own memorial. They notified the commissioners of their decision Oct. 14. A meeting with the commissioners is to be arranged in November to discuss the details.

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