Posted 6:28 pm Sunday, December 05, 2010
$100,000 Veterans Monument Planned At Henderson
By KELLY GOOCH
Staff Writer
A Rusk County veterans monument will be constructed in Henderson to pay tribute to those who have selflessly served their country.
Staff Writer
A Rusk County veterans monument will be constructed in Henderson to pay tribute to those who have selflessly served their country.
The monument's plans call for a two- level structure. Each will be 28 by 20 feet.
R.D. Wittner, president of the Rusk County Veterans Monument Association, said the first level will consist of two quarter round granite walls with benches facing them, while the other will have a quarter round granite slab that is approximately 26 feet.
He said there also will be pedestals on the upper level that represent branches of the military. Both levels will contain names of veterans who live or have lived in Rusk County.
The association has not set an exact timeline for the project because it wanted to pour cement.
That is expected to happen next week, Wittner said, and the association will then gather names for six more months before ordering granite.
The association already has collected at least 142 names.
It has been collecting money for the approximately $100,000 project.
Wittner said it is being funded by donations and money it charges each veteran who wants their name on the monument. If the person doesn't have the money to pay, he said the association can try to come up with a way to help out.
Wittner said the county is also helping with the project by providing labor.
"Right now the county courthouse is having new sidewalks poured, so while they were doing that we wanted to fit in with the new sidewalks, so they decided to help us get concrete poured," Wittner said.
The idea for the monument came when Wittner, a Vietnam veteran, decided he wanted to do something for all veterans. Others such as Leo Gonzalez, a veteran service officer and secretary of the veterans monument association, then expressed interest in helping with the initiative.
Wittner said the association is getting the monument so everyone's grandchildren and great- grandchildren can see and feel the names.
"We hope that the future generations can see all the veterans who have served and have passed and gave their life for the freedom of our country," Gonzalez said.
