GBARNGA, Bong County -- Former Liberian Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor has called on national authorities, historians, and stakeholders in Liberia's peace and reconciliation process to formally recognize the Phebe Hospital Compound as one of the country's major civil war massacre sites.
Madam Taylor appealed on Saturday, December 20, during a family memorial and life-and-legacy celebration held on the Phebe Hospital Compound in honor of her late father, Mr. Moses Y. Howard.
Mr. Howard, a medical professional who served at Phebe Hospital, was brutally killed in September 1994 during Liberia's 14-year civil conflict. According to Madam Taylor, he was murdered alongside several doctors and civilians during a wave of violence that engulfed the hospital area at the height of the war.
She lamented that despite the magnitude of the killings; the Phebe Hospital Compound has never been officially acknowledged as a massacre site in Liberia's national historical records.
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"The Phebe massacre is one of those painful chapters that has largely been forgotten," Madam Taylor said. "Yet many innocent people, including trained medical professionals, lost their lives here."
She disclosed that following the killings, numerous bodies remained on the hospital compound for nearly three months due to the total collapse of government authority in the area.
When stability was later restored, the victims were buried at the location where they were found, as families and authorities were unable to relocate the remains.
Madam Taylor expressed appreciation to the Phebe Hospital administration, the Lutheran Church of Liberia, and local leaders for permitting the victims to be buried on the compound. She noted that many families across the country were never able to recover the remains of relatives who died during the war.
She emphasized that her call is not motivated by bitterness or revenge, but by the need for historical truth, national memory, and respect for those who perished.
"The story of what happened at Phebe deserves to be told just like other recognized massacre sites," she said. "Future generations must understand the full cost of Liberia's civil war."
Reflecting on her father's legacy, Madam Taylor said Moses Y. Howard belonged to the first generation of trained Lutheran medical professionals in Liberia.
He and his wife received medical training abroad through the Lutheran Church before returning to serve communities across the country, including Zorzor and later Phebe Hospital, where they began work in the 1960s.
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During the peak of the conflict, she said her parents returned to Phebe Hospital believing their skills were urgently needed to treat wounded civilians and displaced persons fleeing violence from surrounding areas--a decision that ultimately led to her father's death.
Addressing the broader national debate on justice for war victims and calls for the establishment of a War Crimes Court, the former Vice President stressed that she is not personally seeking justice for her father's killing. Instead, she advocated reconciliation, peace, unity, and national healing.
She observed that nearly every Liberian family suffered during the war through death, displacement, hunger, or disease, and warned that vengeance would not heal the nation's wounds.
According to her, Liberia's future depends on dialogue, forgiveness, and a collective commitment to peace.
Madam Taylor urged Liberians to reject violence as a means of resolving disputes, stressing that war must never be repeated.
She maintained that recognizing the Phebe Hospital Compound as a massacre site is not about reopening old wounds, but about honoring victims, preserving national history, and ensuring that the horrors of the past are never forgotten.
The memorial service, she disclosed, was organized because it marked the first time in decades that most members of her family had gathered at the site. Siblings and relatives traveled from the United States to pay tribute to their father and seek closure after many years of grief.
