Naysayers may have provided just the motivation that members of American Legion Post 60 needed to get the ball rolling on completion of a veteran’s memorial in Henderson.

You won’t be able to find a suitable location, they said.

But they did.

It’ll be difficult to get approval, they said.

But they got that, too, back in the fall, when the Henderson City Council gave the green light for the group to place the memorial in front of the police department entrance.

Those doubters, said Post 60 Commander Hartwell Wright, gave “all kinds of reasons why we can’t do it.” That made him and others, including Post 60 Vice Commander Andy Roberson, all all the more motivated to get it done.

Anybody want to tell them they can’t raise the $150,000 or so it’s going to cost to get the project completed?

Wright and Roberson were guests on Tuesday’s TownTalk to share updates about the plan to place the memorial in Henderson, which will give veterans and their families a place to gather, reminisce and remember.

When the group went searching for the perfect spot to put the new memorial that would make it accessible to the community, they were pleased when the city granted them use of the space at the police department entrance.

“They graciously allowed us to use their property,” Wright said, which also meant that no land would need to be purchased. “We were really excited about that.”

A company in Ohio has designed a 9-foot tall hexagon-shaped monument made of polished granite – one side for each of the six branches of the military – on which a bronze eagle statue will perch. There will be no individual names on the main monument; rather, each side will contain designs that depict the different branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard and Space Force.

Roberson said, “We just feel like there are veterans around here that have never been recognized” for their military service…we want to recognize everybody.”

Wright agrees. “This memorial is designed for every single veteran that’s ever served. This monument is to celebrate you.”

A separate, smaller monument will contain the names of all the people from Vance County who were killed in military service, beginning with World War I.

Once the City Council approved the design back in October, the fundraising could commence.

The group formed a non-profit organization called Vance County Veterans Memorial, and Wright said “every dime that comes in stays here.”

“We have knocked on a lot of doors,” Wright said. Contributions are welcome, large or small.

There’s also a “donate” button on the group’s website, https://vcvm.org/.

How much is left to raise?

“Let’s just say we need around $100,000, plus a little bit,” Wright said.

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