Published: October 10, 2008 11:26 pm      

‘Closer to reality’

$50,000 grant for Korean War memorial received

FAIRMONT — wlS??unty’s Korean War veterans are $50,000 closer to creating a memorial to honor the sacrifices of those who didn’t come home from that war and those who did.

“I can see it coming closer to reality,” said Loren Jackson of the grant from the state’s Community Economic Development Partnership program.

The president of the county’s Korean War Memorial drive, Jackson and other veterans of the “Forgotten War” met at the future site of the memorial Friday afternoon.

House Majority Whip Mike Caputo, and Delegates Tim Manchin and Linda Longstreth, all D-Marion, presented the grant to the aging warriors.

“They’ve been persistent in their fundraising,” Caputo said. The state money comes from the old Budget Digest program, now tailored for permanent capital investments in communities, he said.

He and his fellow Marion County delegates were aided in their hunt for the grant because of the community support already shown for the project, he said.

Gov. Joe Manchin is also backing the project, Caputo said. The memorial will help attract visitors and educate future generations about the contributions of previous generations.

“We haven’t forgotten these veterans and we want to see their dream become a reality,” Caputo said. Delegate Manchin, a member of the House Finance Committee, and Longstreth, an Army veteran and vice chairman of the House Veterans Affairs committee, said they too are committed to the project.

Jackson said the grant raises the amount on hand to about $100,000. The group is determined to raise about $200,000, he said.

Looking over the site — an acre of ridge top at the end of State Street Extended next to the large pavilion of East Marion Park — he and other veterans said they were pleased with it.

The land was donated by the Marion County Parks and Recreation Commission. The original site was near Pricketts Fort, but the cost of moving several buried water lines made that location too expensive, officials said.

Ranks of brick walls will overlook busy Interstate 79, below and to the east. To the south is the massive bridge built over the interstate for the Gateway Connector Highway.

Looking west, visitors will see the distant buildings of downtown Fairmont. They also will see the nearby memorial to the county’s Vietnam War veterans on the grounds of the East Marion Wave Pool.

Jackson said the brick walls will bear marble plaques for dead and living Korean War veterans — and all others.

While the focus will be on Korean veterans, the memorial will honor all veterans, “whether they served in combat or not, overseas or at home.”

“That’s what I insisted on, right from the start,” Jackson said.

Don Dobbins of Bridgeport, the group’s secretary-treasurer, is confident the community will respond. An account has been established at the Monongahela Valley Bank for those that want to make contributions by mail.

He was raising funds at the Meadowbrook Mall recently, he said. A young woman took out her checkbook after he had explained what he was doing and why, Dobbins said.

“I was expecting maybe a $5 check. But she gave me a check for $500,” he said.

Don Neptune is the group’s vice president.

More information on the memorial and the fundraising campaign is available by calling 366-2650. The local Korean War veterans meet at 2 p.m. on the fourth Thursday of every month at VFW Post 629 on Fairmont Avenue.

E-mail Bill Byrd at bbyrd@timeswv.com.