Veteran's Memorial Plaza
Project:
The current monument, which sits on the southwest corner of the Court House lawn, was initially erected in the 1940s for casualties of WWII only. Later, an additional monument was placed at the site for the Korean War and another monument was subsequently placed for the Vietnam Conflict. Having run out of room, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans were memorialized on the benches that had been placed between the three monuments.
There is no memorial for Starke County Veterans of other conflicts/wars since the establishment of the County in 1850. God forbid but in the event there are future conflicts, there is no room at the current site for memorializing those Veterans either. Finally, the current Memorial is not handicap accessible. The new plaza will be larger and excavated to allow wheelchair access.
In communicating with various Starke County Veteran’s groups, they are firm in their resolve that the existing monument must remain on the southwest corner of the Courthouse. The new Memorial will thus be built on the Southeast corner of the Courthouse Square.
We anticipate this plaza will be utilized by the public to sit, meditate, and reflect on the great sacrifices our servicemen and women have made to secure our freedoms. In the words of General John Pershing, “Time will not dim the glory of their deeds”. Our new plaza will ensure just that!
Click here to download the Criteria for Inclusion of Names Form.
Click here to download the Veteran's Memorial Project Summary.