How do you build a Walkway of Honor? Brick by brick. And you are invited to take part.
The Garner Veterans Memorial Committee gathered on Tuesday at Lake Benson Park, site of the soon-to-be constructed Garner Veterans Memorial, to announce the opening of brick sales for an accompanying walkway.
Everyone is welcome to purchase bricks to honor or memorialize friends or loved ones who have served, or are serving, in our nation’s military.
“This is once in a lifetime — I never thought I would get to be part of something like this,” said veteran Terry Chatfield of Garner’s American Legion Post 232. “Now, even when I’m no longer around, the memorial will always be here. Truthfully, I feel so proud.”
The brick sale announcement came a bit earlier than the committee expected, thanks to a $50,000 check presented by Wake County Commissioner Phil Matthews on behalf of the county board. The board on Monday agreed unanimously to contribute to the Garner project.
“This site is hallowed ground,” said Matthews, a former Garner alderman and a Vietnam veteran. “Our veterans gave all to protect our homeland.”
Harold Annis, chair of the memorial committee, is pleased to enter the next fundraising phase of the project. Some $275,000 in pledges have already been committed from the community, including a $25,000 pledge and site donation by the Town of Garner, and gifts from American Legion and VFW posts, civic clubs, businesses and individuals.
Total cost of the memorial is $500,000; brick sales are expected to fund the remainder.
“This also keeps us on schedule to dedicate the Garner Veterans Memorial on Veterans Day 2012, in November,” Annis said.
Groundbreaking is set for early summer.
“Interactive and educational” are the words Annis used to describe the memorial design, selected via a statewide competition won by Wake County firm Clearscapes Architecture + Art. Lead architect on the project is Mong Pen Yueh, a Garner resident.
Yueh says while most veterans’ memorials are designed for a specific conflict, the Garner Veterans Memorial will honor all area veterans since the birth of our nation in 1776, and through future conflicts.
“Each segment represents one decade in the history of the United States,” she said. “Inside the memorial, larger panels on one side list the wars the nation was involved in during that decade. Smaller panels on the other side list local veterans who lost their lives in those wars. As you walk through the memorial, you are walking through history.”
The panels offer details on U.S. conflicts, with benches placed to recognize decades of peacetime. Panels will be added for future decades.
Veteran Warren Murphy of American Legion Post 232 says the memorial will raise awareness of the needs of current servicemen and women.
“We have a tsunami of problems coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan, such as soldiers with traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder,” Murphy said. “The memorial will motivate the whole community to start thinking about how to address the problems faced by veterans.”
“We have the opportunity to show that freedom has a price,” said memorial committee vice chair Faye Gardner, “and an opportunity to honor every veteran.”
Bricks for the walkway are priced at $125 for standard size and $200 for 8×8-inch size.
To purchase bricks, or for more information on the Garner Veterans Memorial, visit www.garnerveteransmemorial.org or contact Gardner at (919) 772-6440.
