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The local AMVETS chapter has announced an ambitious plan to construct a veterans park on Kentucky 9 in Maysville.
Friday, January 5, 2007 10:09 PM EST
While the city has offered up the property for the park and will be in charge of the visitors center, the plan calls for no less than eight separate memorials to be included. The price tag on each memorial is expected to approach $75,000 for a total of about $600,000. Add in other expenses and the organization may need more than $750,000 before the memorial park is complete.
The group plans to seek grants to help pay for the project but most grants require in-kind contributions, whether it be in the form of labor or funding. And while the city is sure to supply some of that, it doesn't let the rest of us off the hook. There will be a need for contributions, both the kind you pay from your checking account and the kind you pay with the sweat of your brow. And we should all expect to make a payment of one or the other -- or both.
The Father of Our Country, George Washington said "The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional as to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation." Now is our opportunity to show that appreciation, to provide concrete proof that we do appreciate our veterans, to put our money where our mouth is.
As individuals and as a community, we must be prepared to pay for a memorial, no matter how steep the cost, to honor those who paid the far higher price of our freedom.
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