CENTRAL CITY, Neb. (AP) - An additional wall will soon make the Heartland Tribute to Veterans memorial in Central City complete. People will be able to honor veterans from the very beginning, all the way to present day with the new wall.
The Grand Island Independent reports that the memorial currently has five completed walls, each representing a different era or war. The memorial, which is in Lone Tree Park, includes walls for World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Cold War era. The sixth wall is half-done and will include information on wars pre-World War I on its south side. On the north side of the sixth wall, there will be information about everything after 2000 to present day. The sixth wall will honor veterans from the early years of the United States to those currently serving. The black panels for the wall aren’t yet up for the post-2000 side of the wall, but committee members hope it will be done before Veterans Day on Nov. 11.
“Then (after the sixth wall is completed) as far as I’m concerned, then this memorial is done,” said Gary Berry, who is on the committee.
Brent Kennedy, who is also on the committee, said there could be possibilities for more walls in the future, if there are more wars. For now, though, there will only be six walls.
Kennedy said his nephew is serving in the military, so his name will eventually be on the sixth wall.
Each wall has pictures and information about its war or era and the equipment used at that time. Berry said the newer part of the sixth wall will include information about topics such as IEDs, drones and Humvees.
Jack McMahon helped start the committee for the Heartland Tribute to Veterans. He said the new wall, like the others, will include space for name plates, which people can buy for veterans.
Other committee members include Rick Kunz, Steve Lamon, Miles McGinnis, Chris Anderson, Dave Butler, Mike Reeves, Jim Boroviak, Mike Bowman and Jim Larson.
McMahon said the information about the wars is something that sets the memorial apart. While honoring and remembering all veterans, they wanted people to learn more about the wars and what the veterans endured.
He said the memorial isn’t just for people in Central City or Merrick County.
“It’s for everybody,” McMahon said.
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Information from: The Grand Island Independent, http://www.theindependent.com
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