Butler County commissioners drew a line in the sand yesterday, issuing an ultimatum and a promise to end the nine-year battle over how much recognition the Merchant Marine should receive on a World War II monument in downtown Butler.

Dale Pinkerton, chairman of the commissioners, said the board has spent months "bending over backwards" to bring the warring parties to an accord but nothing has worked.

"We're empathetic to both sides, [but we're determined] to extricate ourselves," he said.

The argument centers on where on the monument the mariners are honored. The front of the monument honors veterans from the Army, Army Air Corps, Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard. The Merchant Marine is mentioned along with about two dozen other groups on the back. The mariners want to be on the front.

The monument was funded by $450,000 that was raised by a World War II memorial committee headed by Butler County Veterans Affairs Director John Cyprian.

After enumerating the steps the county commissioners have taken -- including defending themselves against litigation by the mariners, brokering an official mediation between the two sides and offering a compromise alternative -- Mr. Pinkerton said yesterday that the county is done with the issue.

Almost.

He made a motion to give the local mariners group until Oct. 1 to select in writing one of two options:

• The county will donate land in Diamond Park, the site of the existing World War II monument, and the mariners can erect their own memorial. Mr. Pinkerton said he would help the group raise money and would personally contribute to the cause.

• The county will erect in the county Government Center across South Main Street from the monument a plaque acknowledging the service of the mariners during World War II.

The motion was passed unanimously.

Both of the options identified in Mr. Pinkerton's motion have been extended to the mariners before -- and have been rejected.

Butler attorney William Rodgers, speaking for the mariners, said yesterday that neither option is ideal but "at least the commissioners have made a decision. We don't like the decision. But at least it's a decision."

He said the mariners group will discuss it and decide what to do by Oct. 1.