Ground broken on war memorial
November 17, 2008
By Ryan Piersol
With a simple act, the Snoqualmie Valley was on its way to memorializing much more significant acts.
On Veterans Day, Nov. 11, members of the Renton-Pickering American Legion Post 79 and the Mount Si VFW Post 9476 dug their shovels into the ground as the first act in a construction project deemed to remember soldiers from the Snoqualmie Valley who lost their lives in war.
The first shovels are stuck into the ground at the future site of a memorial honoring Snoqulalmie Valley soldiers.
The Snoqualmie Valley Veterans Memorial is an ambitious project – expected to cost around $100,000 – that will list all of those fallen soldiers on a monument in the center of the memorial, just south of the American Legion building in downtown Snoqualmie. For some, the memorial is a long time coming.
“This, for me, it’s an honor. It’s just really been gratifying to be a part of it,” said Steve Fenton, commander of the America Legion post in Snoqualmie. “There are isolated little references or small monuments to veterans in different places in the Valley, but they’re for a specific conflict or war. There’s no place that says, ‘this honors all veterans.’”
The project is a long way from completion. In fact, the organizers have yet to even receive enough funding.
But there is a sketch of what the completed project will look like, and it’s both large and impressive. The entire memorial will be approximately 38 feet by 60 feet. Eight flags – representing the United States, the Army, the Air Force, the Navy, the Marines, the Coast Guard, the Merchant Marines and prisoners of war – will fly on flagpoles placed on the edges. In the center, there will be a monument with sketched images of the Valley and the names of all soldiers from the area who have died in war.
There’s also an active list being put together of the soldiers who will be honored. More than 50 names are on it, although Fenton has stressed that it could grow. A group of historians, veterans and long-time residents of the Valley put the list together, but are asking residents to submit any names they’ve missed.
“If you know of someone who died, who should be on this list, we want to know,” Fenton said. “We also want to make it clear that this honors war-time veterans and peace-time veterans. Although we are specifically honoring those who died on the memorial itself, this is for all veterans.”
The project had been discussed for years, but didn’t really begin to take shape until Christine Chartier, a long-time supporter of Valley veterans, began organizing support for it last year. Her brother, local artist Bob Antone, then drafted a few sketches of what both the memorial and monument could look like.
At the groundbreaking on Veterans Day, Fenton said he was amazed to see the public interest. They were expecting around 75-100 people to show, but estimated that well more than 200 attended.
There were a few in attendance he made note of, like Joe Crecca, a Vietnam fighter pilot who was a prisoner of war for more than six years.
“That’s the kind of people we have living and serving our country who you walk right by in the grocery store and you don’t know. A lot of our veterans won’t talk about it, because it’s just who they are,” Fenton said.
“All of the people who have sacrificed with their lives, this memorial is to honor all of them, past, present and in the future. All gave some, some gave all. And those who gave all, their names are going to be remembered on the monument.”
A series of fundraisers are being organized to help pay for the memorial. The first is through the purchase of bricks that will surround the monument. Those who purchase them at $100 apiece can honor a family member or friend who has served in the military. There are three lines of space on the bricks for a message.
Another fundraiser will be a concert on Dec. 7 – Pearl Harbor Day – from 3-6 p.m. at Snoqualmie United Methodist Church. Suggested donation at the door is $10 for adults and $5 for children. Organizers are also encouraging those interested to bring a can of food to support the local food bank.
Reach editor Ryan Piersol at editor@snovalleystar.com or 392-6434.
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