Dedication planned for veterans memorial park in Lamar

Joe Hadsall, The Joplin Globe, Mo.
·3 min read

Sep. 6—LAMAR, Mo. — A group that has raised hundreds of thousands dollars for a memorial park is ready to celebrate its success establishing a tribute for the county's veterans.

The Barton County Memorial Park Board will hold a dedication ceremony Sept. 17 for its recently completed memorial.

The event, set for 11 a.m. at Second and Gulf streets, will feature a Black Hawk helicopter, a performance from the Lamar High School band, and flag raisings with officials from local posts of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

"By the end of this year, we will have put about $300,000 into the park, all from donations, fundraisers and brick sales," said Joe Davis, president of the park board. "We have been lucky to have great support from generous donors."

The park board recently completed its war memorial featuring a circle of flags and seven triangle-shaped monuments, six of which detail armed conflicts fought by U.S. troops. The seventh, and largest, recognizes the hospital that once stood on the land, and the reason for its construction. The monuments surround a large red V statue, representing victory.

The memorial park rests on land that once was the location of Barton County Memorial Hospital — a structure built to honor World War II veterans. Built in 1949, the hospital honored 69 Barton County veterans who fought and died in that war, in either the European or Pacific theaters.

Davis said generosity from both hospital owner CoxHealth and the Barton County Commission helped bring the project to life. CoxHealth funded the demolition of the building in 2019, and the commission donated the land for the park.

"(The commission) could have sold this and made a few thousand," Davis said. "They'd have some nice houses and get some real estate taxes. But the commissioners saw what we saw."

The park board has raised money through sales of bricks and pavers, to be installed in a Walk of Honor leading to the memorial, and a nearby cornerstone of the original hospital's foundation. Davis said anonymous donors have also assisted with the project with large contributions.

"Someone who already donated $50,000 is giving us another $20,000 for parking lot asphalting," Davis said. "Another gave $100,000."

The dedication ceremony marks progress, not completion. Davis said several other features are in the works for the 3-acre park.

A WWII-era Sherman tank will be moved on the property soon, and board members hope to add either more military equipment or a gazebo.

The centerpiece of the park will be a corner that displays service markers of the 69 Barton County veterans who died in service to the country. Davis said the emphasis is on World War II, where the U.S. and other Allied forces fought against the Nazi regime in Europe and against Japan in the Pacific.

"The county has a Civil War cannon at the courthouse and Memorial Hall for World War I veterans and a Vietnam War plaque at the football field," Davis said. "The hospital was that generation's way of paying tribute to World War II veterans, and we wanted to keep that purpose."