By Joyell Nevins
Courtesy of the Weekly Record Herald; Printed on 11-11-11
WEST MILTON – The Veterans Memorial that sits in Lions Park started with a single flagpole. But the men and women behind it, who continue to work behind the scenes, had a vision for something much greater.
“We call it a living memorial – because it keeps going on forever,” said Tony Hughes, member of the board of governors of the Milton-Union Veterans Association.
Another board of governors member, Al Daum, uses the term “perpetuity” – the memorial that never ends.
The association was formed specifically for the purpose to create a memorial. Their commitment has kept the project going over a decade.
Along with Hughes and Daum, the board also includes town natives David Kozuh, Bob Sowers, and Kenny Kauffman. This group has two members from American Legion Post 487, two members from Veterans for Foreign Wars Post 8211, and a representative from the Village of West Milton’s Park Board.
Through their oversight, the memorial has continually been pieced together as funds came through and people made time to do the work. The first flagpole was erected on July 4, 1997. This past summer, 14 years later, the second final phase was finally completed.
“It’s well worth taking the time to get it right,” said Hughes.
Almost all of the masonry and installation has been through volunteer labor. Volunteers have come from both individuals and businesses like Piqua Concrete and Coate Construction.
“People who’ve helped are too numerous to mention,” Hughes declared.
Much of the fundraising came through business excursions and fish fries. For several years, almost every week the smells of breading and grease could be smelled wafting through the town on a Friday night.
“Did I mention we had fish fries,” said Hughes sardonically.
Whether it was the love of seafood or the goodwill of a community, Miltonians kept coming out.
Their support helped pay for a three part memorial. There is the walkway, where the general community and businesses can buy bricks. There is the flag plaza, with bricks listing veterans, their branch, and years of service. The majority of landscaping in these areas was designed by Steve Longenecker, and is maintained by West Milton village staff.
When the flag plaza was first unveiled, the special 2001 ceremony drew such political names as John Boehner (before he was Speaker of the House) and the late Bob Netzley.
While anyone can place a brick on the sidewalk, only veterans can have their names on the plaza bricks. The veterans have to have a tie to Union Township, which includes the towns of West Milton, Ludlow Falls, Laura and Potsdam.
Despite the general community attitude of cooperation, the memorial crew had a hard time fighting vandalism. Several times, plants surrounding the walkways and plaza would be torn up, bricks would be pulled, and gravel thrown. The flood lights had to be replaced twice due to being smashed or stepped on.
Thanks to the former Municipal Manager Tony Howard and Chief of Police Garry Kimpel, the memorial now has surveillance cameras and a spotlight, so it’s less inviting to night mischief. Police often drive by in the park at night as well.
The third part of the memorial is a brick curved wall perched on top of the hill. The bricks in both the sidewalk and the wall were all laid by Danny Volk. Just last week, Jim Richard finished the construction of a handicap walkway from the plaza to the wall.
The wall has six mural stones, one for each major war fought by Americans: the Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.
The black marble mural stones were designed by Eric Fogarty and are engraved with depictions and statistics from each of the wars. There is space on the wall for more stones. Military statistics are still being gathered for Desert Storm, the war in Iraq, and the fight in Afghanistan.
These mural stones are available for sponsorship. Currently, the West Milton Rotary and Hale-Sarver Funeral Home are sponsors. The sponsorship fees are used to help with upkeep and “perpetual care” of the memorial, according to Hughes.
The association and volunteers have spent over a decade planning and building the memorial, but the result, they feel, is well worth it.
“I think that it’s a wonderful memorial – not extravagant, but it’s classy,” said Hughes.
Bricks are also still available for purchase. Contact Tony Hughes at 698-4480 or 698-3113 for more information.
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