New monuments honor Purple Heart recipients and war dog handlers

CHEBOYGAN — Two new monuments have been installed at Veterans Memorial Park to pay tribute to specific groups of veterans who have served the United States throughout history.

A Purple Heart monument was placed in the park to honor all veterans who were wounded in combat during their time in the service and received the Purple Heart medal. A War Dogs monument was also placed in Veterans Memorial Park, to honor the military K9 veterans and their handlers who contributed to every war effort the United States has been a part of.

"The two new monuments were put in the park the week before Memorial Day, in the rain," said Tom Smith, Veterans Memorial Park Committee chair.

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The two monuments, as well as a new stand for the POW-MIA monument, were installed on May 25 to make sure everything was ready for Memorial Day.

Some other work was also done at the park to spruce up the facility for the ceremonies. The Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 274 took down the shrubs around their monument, in the southeast corner of the park, as part of the cleaning up.

"They allowed Tracy Barber and her husband Matt, who has done all of our masonry work, they went down there and took out all the old stuff and put in new stuff," said Smith.

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The Barbers planted new flowers in place of the old shrubs around the Vietnam Memorial. The couple also planted new flowers along the sidewalks and in the center flowerbed in the park.

"She and her husband have donated so much to the park, and free labor," said Smith. "Matt is also going to be redoing the arch. The old arch is falling apart, it's disintegrating."

Matt Barber will be taking all of the brick off the Lest We Forget archway at the northeast corner of the park and replacing it with cultured stone similar to the new archway in the center of the park.

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Cheboygan County — which owns the park — has also ordered new letters to replace the words on the archway, so that monument will be improved by the end of this year. The county will also be placing a new monument in the park, near Court Street, telling a brief history of the park. This will also be done in the next several weeks.

There are some other minor upgrades that also need to be done to the park, including removing some large shrubs. Two flowerbeds will be constructed, and some new trees will be planted in the park.

Smith said the committee has been so blessed with the support the community has given to the upgrades of the park, and the amount of money that has been donated for the project.

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"It wasn't just the eight people of the committee that has done this, it's been the whole community, the whole county helped out, to show respect for those veterans," said Smith. "You have to show respect for those that didn't come home. And that's how this all started, five years ago. It all started because they didn't cut the grass for Memorial Day."

The Veterans Memorial Park Committee will continue selling memorial bricks to be placed near the monuments with the names of fallen veterans, and throughout the park, even after the upgrades to the facility are completed.

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"We'll always be selling bricks," said Smith. "So if people ever want a brick, bricks will always be for sale, forever."

There are two different sizes of bricks that can be purchased, a four by eight inch brick for $75 or eight by eight brick for $125. You do not have to be a veteran to purchase a brick or put your name on it, but if the brick is for a veteran, there will be a special star stamped into the brick.

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More information on the brick program can be found at the park, with order forms available near the monuments in the center of the park. Anyone wanting to order a brick can contact Smith at (231) 420-7777, or stop in to the Cheboygan County Veteran Services Office on the lower level of the Cheboygan County Building, Room 122, to pick up an order form.

Contact Reporter Kortny Hahn at khahn1@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @khahnCDT.

This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Purple Heart recipients and War Dog Handlers honored with new monuments