Built in memory of the almost 14,000 Romanian soldiers who were killed on the frontlines in Oituz, Coşna, and Cireşoaia, during World War I (1916-1918), this monument at the top of Mount Magura is indeed impressive.  What distinguishes this monument from the rest in the country is both its architecture and its location at an altitude of 520 meters (1,706 feet).  The construction of this monument started in 1925, under the rule of King Ferdinand and Queen Maria, and ended in 1928, under the rule of King Mihai. The preparations for the construction of this structure were made by the veterans who survived the battles of Oituz-Coşna-Cireşoaia.  The necessary funds for the construction were donated by the public through the fundraising efforts of Mihai Teodoru, the person who initiated the project.  He was aided by Constantin Ciogolea, the architect of the project.  The Heroes’ Monument is a three story building with a spiral staircase, it is 22 meters (72 feet) tall, and the whole edifice is constructed of stones carved into the shapes of ammunition shells.  Until the beginning of World War II, it was guarded day and night by garrison guards from the city.  After World War II the structure was abandoned, but from 1972-1974 it was renovated and reopened as a museum.  One the ground level there is a commemorative plaque dedicated to the unknown soldier inscribed with the following emotional text: To those soldiers who sacrificed their lives for their country, heroes of our faith, wherever you rest may it be in peace.

Above the tomb of the unknown soldier are the battle flags of the 15^th Infantry Regiment and the 4^th Artillery Regiment, the two regiments that fought on the Oituz front.  The men belonging to these regiments fought through the hardest battle in the area, which started on August 8^th 1917, when there was the real danger of a break happening on the Coşna-Cireşoaia front. German and Austro-Hungarian units were advancing on Târgu Ocna. The Allied headquarters determined it was best to send back up troops to the area in order to keep the enemy from having a victory in the Trotuş Valley .  The Division 1 Calvary of Mãrãşeşti and a battalion of mountaineers from Târgu Neamt were to arrive in Târgu Ocna on August 11 1917.  On the evening of August 11, after marching 145 km (90 miles) on foot in full battle gear, the Cireşoaia battalion made it a small village called Brãteşti, near Târgu Ocna.

After a few hours of rest, a group of soldiers from Major Virgil Bãdulesu’s battalion, led by Elisei Ursac, arrived at Bogata.  From there the troops surveyed the parameter of the enemy and were able to sneak up behind the German lines at the top of Cireşoaia.  Taken by surprise, the enemy retreated in complete disorder, leaving behind many prisoners and munitions.

The battle continued for the next several days to secure the Cireşoaia and Coşna fronts.  The troops from the Calvary Regiment and the 2^nd Regiment of Border Guards bravely fought and reconquered Coşna on August 13, 1917.  It all fell on Lt. Col. Gheorghe Demetriad, squadron leader of the 9^Th Regiment from Roşiori, and Col. Marcel Olteanu, commander of three brigades from Roşiori, to continue the assault to conquer the 789 share.

On this same eventful day (August 13, 1917) Grenadier Corporal Constantin Musat of the 2^nd Border Guard Regiment would face a great challenge.  He was wounded twice in 1916 while fighting in the Prahova valley.  The second injury resulted in him losing his left arm.  After six months in the hospital he was told that in a while he would become an invalid, so he escaped from the hospital to rejoin his comrades.  His sacrifice has remained a moving example of going above and beyond his duty to his country.

In his memory a memorial cross was erected, originally in the place where he had lost his life, but in 1977 it was brought and placed next to the Heroes Monument on Mount Măgura, and at the original location of the memorial cross another monument has been built in his honor by locals.

In the fall of 1917, Gh. I. Brãtianu visited the frontline at Cireşoaia where Queen Mary also made her first visit to the area.  Queen Mary arrive unannounced in the forest of Cireşoaia and urged that she be taken to the most remote trenches (Gh. I. Brãtianu, Cuvinte cãtre români (Words to the Romanians).  Queen Mary remarks of her fall 1917 visit that: “It was such a pleasure to see the delighted astonishment of the soldiers when they saw me…This visit made for my soldiers was a huge learning experience for me, and for them a great joy” (Maria, Regina României, Povestea Vieţii mele (Mary, Queen of Romania, My life’s story).

In the spring of 1918, from March 25 through April 7, Queen Mary came back to Cireşoaia.  She was accompanied by her husband Kind Ferdinand on this visit. From August 6-19, Queen Mary made her third trip to the Cireşoaia and Coşna fronts accompanied by Prince Carol, Prince Nicolae, Princess Elisabeta and Princess Mary (King Ferdinand was unable to come on that trip because he was in self imposed isolation in Bicaz in an attempt to protest the unfavorable peace accords made in Buftea in May 1918).  The graves of the men who fell during battle in Cireşoaia “were weeded out and marked with white birch crosses” (Mary, Queen of Romania, My life’s story).

Also while here, in a clearing on the slope of a ditch that had a 50 meter (164 foot) diameter, she ate a meal alongside the Romanian soldiers and the people of Târgu Ocna. The event was immortalized in a photograph taken by Stanciu Kotetschi, a photographer from Barlad (the original photograph can be found in the Heroes’ Monument collection on Mount Măgura , Târgu Ocna).  The location was then renamed “The Queen’s Table”.  The Queen also participated in the memorial service for the heroes, which is thought to have been officiated by the church in Poieni.  She spent the night in Târgu Ocna and the next day she visited the peak of Coşna which was another important battle site on the Oituz front.

Sursa: C. Stoica, Istoria ilustratã a orasului Târgu Ocna, Din cele mai vechi timpuri pânã la 1918, Editura Aristarc, Onesti, 2003(Source: C. Stoica, An Illustrated History of Târgu Ocna, from ancient time to 1918, Aristarc Editors, Onesti, 2003)