By SCOTT NILES Courier staff writer
May 12, 2008 11:22 pm
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ALBIA — Fundraising for the Welcome Home Soldiers Memorial in Albia has begun, but more money is needed to complete the eight-acre site.
Organizers are hoping soldiers, past and present, family and visitors from across the country will travel to Albia to see the site once it’s completed.
The Welcome Home Soldiers Committee recently received a $175,000 federal enhancement grant for the back walkway of the memorial, which will be lined with bronze plaques providing facts, quotes and other historical information for visitors.
“We want the walkway to be a history journey for people both young and old,” said Project Coordinator Jim Keller.
It will include facts like how many people gave their lives in each of the wars and quotes from famous individuals that pertain to wartime.
Keller and the committee is also working with the Great Places group to try and obtain additional funding for the project.
“We need probably another $1.2 million to make it happen,” he said.
Keller, a Vietnam veteran, said he will devote the rest of his life to seeing this project completed.
“This will be a site for not only people in Iowa to visit, but people from all over the United States,” he said. “This has become a passionate project for me.”
The memorial will include an amphitheater, 21 white crosses (representing a 21 gun salute), 50 flags (representing each state), a number of black crosses with names representing medal of honor recipients from a variety of states and several other features dedicated to the men and women who have or are serving the country.
The white crosses will be in a reflection pool that will face a wall, where the names of soldiers will be added. Anyone can add a name of people that are currently or have previously been in active duty in the military for $150. There will also be different statues along the walkway. The site will contain battlefield crosses (which are rifles in the ground with bayonets).
The site will be located just east of Albia off U.S. Highway 34 on nearly eight acres of land.
Keller said he originally started thinking about the project after meeting an author of a book who had served in Vietnam.
“The guy shook my hand and said ‘Thank you for serving our country,’” Keller said. “That is the first time in 35 years anyone had said that to me.
“This memorial will be for all veterans of all wars, and will have information on all the different wars past and present.”
While there is much work to do, Keller said he is optimistic about the project.
“We would like to start the project in the fall or by next spring,” he said. “But no timeline has been set yet. This has not been an easy project, but once it is completed it will be worth the effort.”
Scott Niles can be reached at (641) 683-5360 or via e-mail at sjniles@mchsi.com.
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