Sunday, Nov. 09, 2008

Military memorial rising at armory

Donors in Lexington County town helping to make first S.C. armory monument happen

Ten stacks of bricks and piles of sand and crushed rock mark where a new salute to the military is rising at the National Guard armory in Batesburg-Leesville.

The plaza commemorating the Armed Forces is the first memorial at any of 68 armories in South Carolina, Guard spokesman Col. Pete Brooks said.

It’s being built largely with donations from veterans and their families who live in and near the quiet town 40 miles west of Columbia.

The $40,000 project is the brainchild of community leaders who discovered there were few monuments honoring soldiers in a town with long-standing reverence for the military.

“It’s good the community feels a need to show appreciation anew for its veterans,” said Police Chief Wallace Oswald, a member of a local Guard unit who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

A local memorial for World War I veterans sits in a small cemetery, while one for those in World War II inexplicably was razed in the 1950s, Guard Staff Sgt. Trey Anthony said.

Supporters call the memorial overdue.

“We need to remember what so many have done for this country,” said Nelle Rinehart, sister of a deceased World War II veteran and longtime Guard member.

Local Guard members are overseeing construction as they seek $14,000 in contributions needed to finish the memorial.

Residents are buying $100 commemorative bricks as businesses donate materials.

“With every brick comes a story,” Anthony said. “It’s almost like a history lesson with every brick.”

The partly built plaza sits at the entrance of the armory in the center of the town of 5,500 on the west edge of Lexington County.

Supporters envision it becoming a community gathering spot on Memorial Day, Veterans Day and similar celebrations.

“It’s a labor of love,” Anthony said. “Our hope is to build something that not only honors but inspires.”

Supporters hope the project strengthens community esteem for those who left to fight in wars, sometimes never returning.

The plaza is designed as a timeless veterans monument instead of a commemoration of their role in a particular conflict.

It will feature markers with emblems of the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard and reservists.

“It means a lot that the community supports us,” said Chip Simmons, a Guard member who served in Iraq. “I will be going there for services for years to come.”

Other communities are welcome to put monuments at local armories, Brooks said.

“We always encourage the public to thank veterans for service,” he said.

Supporters started fundraising for the memorial in Batesburg-Leesville in the spring, with a goal of having it ready for Veterans Day Tuesday.

That won’t happen, but backers say the project will get done.

“It was a dream several months ago that is close to becoming reality,” Mayor James Wiszowaty said.

Reach Flach at (803) 771-8483.