The weather was pristine, as was the patriotism of those in attendance at today’s groundbreaking ceremony for the city’s Veterans Memorial. Area veterans and community members gathered as the first shovels of dirt were turned for the memorial – which according to committee member and longtime advocate Tom Leonette, a Vietnam veteran - has been a longtime in the making. It has been worth the wait, he said.

 

“I asked Council around three years ago if we could get a veterans memorial in Bridgeport and the sign was thumbs up – OK,” Leonette said. “It took three years to do it and it’s done right and that’s what counts.”

 

Leonette expressed appreciation to members of the memorial committee: Parks and Recreation Director Don Burton, City Clerk Andrea Kerr, Assistant City Manager Jimmy Smith, Cemetery Superintendent Kitty Sapp and Omni Associates Senior Project Architect Richard Forren. He also thanked City Council members, many of whom were in attendance, and former Mayors Mario Blount and Jim Christie and their respective Councils. He also commended the people of Bridgeport for their longtime support.

 

Designed by Forren, a 36-year member of the U.S. Air Force Reserves, the memorial will be located between Main Street and Philadelphia Avenue on a parcel of land adjacent to the All Saints Catholic Church parking lot.

 

A 36-year member of the U.S. Air Force Reserves, Forren utilized personal insight to design the structure, which will feature a circular shape encompassing  a theme combining “Unity of Cause,” “Strength of Conviction” and “Protection of the American People.” Five individual granite pylons will represent each of the five major branches of service: Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard. Those pylons will surround a 25-foot American flag at the center point. Designed as a place of honor and reverence, the memorial is slated for a mid-summer completion.

 

Today’s groundbreaking featured the United States Army Recruiting Company of Fairmont, which presented the colors. Invocation was presented by Major Michael Allen, State Chaplin of the West Virginia Army National Guard.

 

Offering words of remembrance for all veterans, with an emphasis on fallen veterans, was Brigadier General Charles Veit, assistant adjutant general, West Virginia Army National Guard. Our country is blessed with freedom; freedom which has been paid for too many times, Veit said.

“Today we think of fallen service members who were not able to come home to tell their spouses ‘I love you,’ to thank their parents one more time or hug their children,” he said. “May they and their families ever be watched over and protected.”

 

Mayor Bob Greer also thanked those who are serving their country, as well as those who came before them and those who will follow.

 

Mayor Greer, Leonette, Forren and Veit did the honors of turning the first shovels of dirt. A heartfelt applause followed.

 

Among those with particular appreciation for the forthcoming memorial is 93-year-old Otha Compton Jr., who served in the U.S. Navy from 1942 to 1945. His World War II service was on the USS John Hood, which after the shakedown in the Caribbean, departed for the Pacific in August of 1944. One of its principal missions was to bombard the enemy outposts in the Kuril Islands.

 

Compton was originally slated to serve on another naval ship, but because of an illness, his service was postponed. That ship went down. Compton remembers well the seven-day train ride which he embarked upon when arriving from Japan to the states in December of 1945. He was one of the lucky ones, he said, to return to his wife and child.

It’s hard to understand war, Compton said.

 

“There shouldn’t be any war. People should love one another and get along, but they don’t,” he said. “And one nice thing about America is that they’re for good and for peace and they have fought wars to get rid of criminals and dictators and that sort of thing. I guess what it comes down to is sometimes there has to be war to get rid of those who want to destroy everybody.”

 

It’s wonderful, Compton said, that a veterans memorial is coming to his hometown of Bridgeport.

 

“It’s just a blessing,” he said. “I never thought it would happen, but it is happening.”  

 

For those in attendance at today’s groundbreaking, Veit painted a mental picture as a way to toast fallen comrades.

 

“I ask you to imagine in front of me a small round table with a white tablecloth, a red rose in a vase tied with a red ribbon, a bread plate with a lemon slice and some salt on it, a bible, an upside down wine class and a chair,” he said. “The table is round to show our everlasting concern for our fallen comrades. The tablecloth is white symbolizing the purity of the movies when answering the call of duty. A single red rose displayed in a vase reminds us of the lives of each of our fallen comrades, as well as their loved ones and friends who kept the faith. A vase tied with a red ribbon symbolizes our continued determination to remember our fallen comrades. The slice of lemon on the bread plate reminds us of the bitter fate of those who will never return. A pinch of salt symbolizes the tears endured by the families of those who sacrificed all. The holy book represents the strength gained through faith to sustain those lost for our country. The glass is inverted because they cannot toast with us at this time and the chair is empty – because they are no longer with us. Let us remember and never forget their sacrifice.” 

 

A reception followed today's groundbreaking. See more images from today's event HERE.