Posted 3:08 am Sunday, August 21, 2011
Fighter Jet Loaned To Van Zandt County Veterans Memorial
By MELISSA CROWE
Staff Writer
CANTON — Once flown in the Korean War and Vietnam Conflict, an F-4D fighter jet is retiring to its new home in Canton.
While most decommissioned jets become practice drones for the military, this fighter is on loan from the Air Force as part of a static display and tribute to veterans at the Van Zandt County Veterans Memorial Plaza.
Volunteers meet at 6:30 a.m. most weekends to prepare the jet for paint.
Of all the helpers, Carter Clark, designer and engineer of the memorial, may want to see it completed most. However, he said it may take a few more years before it is finished as funding has slowed progress.
Staff Writer
CANTON — Once flown in the Korean War and Vietnam Conflict, an F-4D fighter jet is retiring to its new home in Canton.
While most decommissioned jets become practice drones for the military, this fighter is on loan from the Air Force as part of a static display and tribute to veterans at the Van Zandt County Veterans Memorial Plaza.
Volunteers meet at 6:30 a.m. most weekends to prepare the jet for paint.
Of all the helpers, Carter Clark, designer and engineer of the memorial, may want to see it completed most. However, he said it may take a few more years before it is finished as funding has slowed progress.
Inspired to create a memorial by his father-in-law, Clark started making plans for the Van Zandt County memorial about six years ago.
“I've always been interested in the military,” Clark said. “But physically, I couldn't do the job, so I couldn't join.”
This project is his way of saying, “Thank you.”
The Texas Department of Transportation donated a corner lot at Texas highways 19 and 243 and pledged to pay half the construction cost. Most of the work is completed gratis by volunteers. The Air Force loaned the jet to the county in October 2010, the “Deuce and a Half” truck and “Huey” helicopter belong to the memorial.
“I've always been interested in the military,” Clark said. “But physically, I couldn't do the job, so I couldn't join.”
This project is his way of saying, “Thank you.”
The Texas Department of Transportation donated a corner lot at Texas highways 19 and 243 and pledged to pay half the construction cost. Most of the work is completed gratis by volunteers. The Air Force loaned the jet to the county in October 2010, the “Deuce and a Half” truck and “Huey” helicopter belong to the memorial.
Because of rising costs, the memorial, originally estimated at $300,000, has risen to about $1 million, Clark said.
The memorial will be complete with the installation of four big-ticket items: 50 granite and engraved headstones, a bronze statue, a granite obelisk and the jet.
“Cutting back was never an option,” Clark, 61, of Canton, said. “This is what we want everyone to feel when they see it.”
The headstones need names of soldiers from the American Revolution to the present etched, which will cost about $9,000.
The memorial will be complete with the installation of four big-ticket items: 50 granite and engraved headstones, a bronze statue, a granite obelisk and the jet.
“Cutting back was never an option,” Clark, 61, of Canton, said. “This is what we want everyone to feel when they see it.”
The headstones need names of soldiers from the American Revolution to the present etched, which will cost about $9,000.
The statue of a kneeling soldier has more than tripled to $80,000 since its original estimation at $25,000 when Clark started planning the memorial seven years ago.
The granite obelisk, which has arrived, is on hold for a $25,000 etching job.
Clark hopes fundraising efforts, through personalized bricks, park benches or numbered edition statues, will cover the remaining cost of the memorial.
“It's a place for people to reflect on what they went through as military soldiers,” Clark said.
The granite obelisk, which has arrived, is on hold for a $25,000 etching job.
Clark hopes fundraising efforts, through personalized bricks, park benches or numbered edition statues, will cover the remaining cost of the memorial.
“It's a place for people to reflect on what they went through as military soldiers,” Clark said.
Although the location is at a busy intersection, Clark said it is “a place of serenity.”
In the engraved brick walkway, he hopes veterans and family of veterans “will see names of people they know.”
“I'm giving to them, to the soldiers,” Clark said. “It's the idea that I'm giving to them because they gave to me.”
According to the Congressional Research Service as of July 2009, more than 1 million Americans have died in battle since the Revolutionary War.
Van Zandt County Veterans Services Officer Harry Fontenot, said now, more than ever, the memorial needs to be finished.
“Recently with the Chinook that got shot down — I don't even know how to put this into words,” Fontenot said. “It made it more imperative for me, personally, to get it finished.”
He dreams of the memorial serving as a venue for patriotic holidays.
“We're not only honoring veterans from Canton, but Van Zandt County and the United States,” Fontenot said. “All of our rights and our liberties are because of veterans.”
Sgt. Maj. Bruce O'Brien, 68, of Canton, said the VFW led him to the memorial.
O'Brien served in the National Guard from 1964 through the end of Desert Storm in 1991
“I love the military,” O'Brien said. “If I could be in there now, I'd be in it.”
He said he misses the camaraderie and the friends he made along the way.
As he sanded the right side of the canopy smooth, he said he hopes the finished memorial stops traffic.
They estimate it will take about eight weeks to finish sanding and painting, before the jet will be installed on a 20-foot pillar, swooping over the memorial.
“This is going to be awesome,” O'Brien said. “I'm a veteran; I've got a lot of pride in this.”
Precariously perched atop a nearly 60-foot-long fighter jet, Joseph Dominique, a young Navy officer, works quickly, sliding from side-to-side, sanding rough edges and taping off reflective paint, before the morning sun heats up.
Dominique, 26, of Athens, learned to paint jets while working in the corrosion shop on a Navy ship. When the opportunity arose to lead a group of volunteers and veterans working on the Van Zandt County Veterans Memorial Plaza in Canton, he jumped at the chance to help.
“These guys worked on these jets in Vietnam and Korea,” Dominique said.
While he sees the sentimental value of the jet in the volunteers' smiles, Dominique has his own reasons for seeing it through.
“I transfer next July, I haven't got my orders yet,” Dominique said. “I hope we have it up and on display before then.”
In the engraved brick walkway, he hopes veterans and family of veterans “will see names of people they know.”
“I'm giving to them, to the soldiers,” Clark said. “It's the idea that I'm giving to them because they gave to me.”
According to the Congressional Research Service as of July 2009, more than 1 million Americans have died in battle since the Revolutionary War.
Van Zandt County Veterans Services Officer Harry Fontenot, said now, more than ever, the memorial needs to be finished.
“Recently with the Chinook that got shot down — I don't even know how to put this into words,” Fontenot said. “It made it more imperative for me, personally, to get it finished.”
He dreams of the memorial serving as a venue for patriotic holidays.
“We're not only honoring veterans from Canton, but Van Zandt County and the United States,” Fontenot said. “All of our rights and our liberties are because of veterans.”
Sgt. Maj. Bruce O'Brien, 68, of Canton, said the VFW led him to the memorial.
O'Brien served in the National Guard from 1964 through the end of Desert Storm in 1991
“I love the military,” O'Brien said. “If I could be in there now, I'd be in it.”
He said he misses the camaraderie and the friends he made along the way.
As he sanded the right side of the canopy smooth, he said he hopes the finished memorial stops traffic.
They estimate it will take about eight weeks to finish sanding and painting, before the jet will be installed on a 20-foot pillar, swooping over the memorial.
“This is going to be awesome,” O'Brien said. “I'm a veteran; I've got a lot of pride in this.”
Precariously perched atop a nearly 60-foot-long fighter jet, Joseph Dominique, a young Navy officer, works quickly, sliding from side-to-side, sanding rough edges and taping off reflective paint, before the morning sun heats up.
Dominique, 26, of Athens, learned to paint jets while working in the corrosion shop on a Navy ship. When the opportunity arose to lead a group of volunteers and veterans working on the Van Zandt County Veterans Memorial Plaza in Canton, he jumped at the chance to help.
“These guys worked on these jets in Vietnam and Korea,” Dominique said.
While he sees the sentimental value of the jet in the volunteers' smiles, Dominique has his own reasons for seeing it through.
“I transfer next July, I haven't got my orders yet,” Dominique said. “I hope we have it up and on display before then.”
