Sac Co. plans vets memorial
Granite tablets will honor those who served in war, peacetimeBy BILL SHEA, Messenger staff writer
Article Photos
Fact Box
To participate
To have a former service member's name engraved on the new Sac County Veterans Memorial, send $100 to:
Sac County Veterans Memorial
P.O. Box 114
Sac City, IA 50583
SAC CITY - All Sac County residents, past and present, who served in the American military would be honored by a new veterans memorial that will grace the front lawn of the courthouse along U.S. Highway 20.
''It represents all veterans from Sac County, whether they were wartime or peacetime,'' said Peggy Dettmann, the county's veteran's service officer.
The highlight of the memorial will be seven black granite tablets bearing the names of veterans.
Dettmann said the memorial is expected to be done by the summer of 2009.
Project organizers are inviting people to submit names to be engraved in the granite. There is a $100 fee to get someone's name on the memorial.
Other financial donations are also being accepted.
The cost of the memorial has been estimated at $150,000.
There are a handful of veterans' monuments scattered across Sac City and other towns in the county. For instance, there is a marker dedicated to Vietnam veterans just across the street from the courthouse. But there is nothing that salutes all veterans and includes their names.
In the summer of 2006, a group of former service members set out to change that.
''We've had a few bumps in the road, but for the most part it's been well-received,'' Dettmann said.
The memorial will include the tablets listing the names, stone benches, and three flagpoles. It will be on an elliptical concrete platform in the courthouse lawn, just north of U.S. Highway 20.
Edward Soenke of The Design Partnership in West Des Moines designed the memorial.
Dettmann said the courthouse provides a ''magnificent background'' for it. She said that site is highly visible to traffic on U.S. Highway 20.
Project organizers also believe placing the monument at the courthouse will reduce the possibility of vandalism.
Any honorably discharged veteran who lives in Sac County, used to live in Sac County, is buried in the county or is a member of the American Legion or Veterans of Foreign Wars posts there can be listed on the memorial.
Contact Bill Shea at (515) 573-2141 or bshea@messengernews.net
