Honoring all military service

James Bailey, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, looks at the blank name tags hanging from the Battlefield Cross sculpture to be placed on a marble base on the Veterans’ Memorial in front of the Avoca City Hall.

James Bailey, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, looks at the blank name tags hanging from the Battlefield Cross sculpture to be placed on a marble base on the Veterans’ Memorial in front of the Avoca City Hall.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

— Honoring all who have served their country is a passion for Tommy O’Dell, mayor of Avoca.

O’Dell, who said he did not serve in the military, but whose father and other relatives have, is carefully constructing a memorial honoring all veterans.

“There is definitely no time period. It covers all veterans from the conception of the USA into the future,” O’Dell said.

“I registered for the draft for Vietnam,” O’Dell said, but his father advised him to finish his education. “I still wanted to serve, but then had a wife and child.”

“Tommy is one of the few nonmilitary most patriotic people I’ve ever met,” James Bailey, Vietnam veteran, said.

The dedication will be at 10:30 a.m. Sept. 18 during the annual POW-MIA motorcycle run.

“It’s the highest form of consecration where a soldier has given his life,” O’Dell said of consecrated ground. He said he has asked a preacher to declare the ground on which the memorial sits hallowed.

The marble - Cherry Blossom - has a blood red streak running through it and was specifically chosen because of that.

“We have one shot to get it right. Veterans deserve no less,” O’Dell said.

The bronze sculpture - a pair of combat boots with a gun standing and blank dog tags hanging from it - is called the Battlefield Cross. It is featured atop the marble base and was created by Richard Rist of Large Art Designs, Baltimore, Maryland.

Inscribed on a plaque emblazoned with the emblems of all five branches of the military is: “All gave some - some gave all.

To all those who answered the call. To honor a few would bring dishonor to all.” There is a circular POW-MIA “You are not forgotten” plaque.

And, to be placed on the base, “as the foundation of all else,” according to O’Dell, is “In God We Trust, 18 September 2010.”

O’Dell said members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3031 color guard and American Legion Post 100 honor guard will participate in the ceremony.

Donations have been given and are still being accepted to contribute to the cost of the memorial which will be about $10,000.

News, Pages 1 on 08/04/2010