Veterans riled by NC town’s removal of memorial to those who served. ‘It hurts.’

Veterans in the Union County town of Marshville are upset after the town began removing a longtime downtown memorial to those who served their country in all branches of the military.

“It hurts,” veteran Bob Morgan told The Charlotte Observer on Friday.

And Mayor Larry Smith said council members and town staff “should have communicated and discussed the options about this potential monument relocation more thoroughly.”

Marshville is a town of about 2,700 people about 45 miles southeast of Charlotte.

No one consulted veterans before town crews began removing the memorial the past week from its longtime perch on Main Street near the police department, Morgan said.

“They just went out there and started taking it down,” he said.

Gone are the pavers and decorative metal fence. So, too, is the flag pole donated by Woodmen of the World, Morgan said.

Friday, only the gray granite memorial was still to be moved, he said.

Morgan is a 59-year-old retired National Guard sergeant major whose family’s military service dates to at least World War II.

He said he served on a veterans memorial committee about two decades ago that raised just over $20,000 in private donations for the memorial.

“Our committee approved it, and I designed it,” he said.

He was dismayed to learn the town planned to move the memorial to an inconspicuous spot in the town cemetery where mounds of dirt are dumped.

“It deserves a much better setting,” he said.

Plus, the cemetery already has a veterans memorial, he said.

Just as disheartening, Morgan said, was word the town might put a parking lot in the downtown memorial location.

Town Manager Franklin Deese said Friday that the town no longer plans to move the memorial to the cemetery or build a parking lot or anything else on the site.

Smith, the town’s mayor, said in an email to the Observer on Saturday: “My personal belief is that we are not so desperate for downtown parking that this is an immediate concern.”

Memorial was sinking, town manager says

The Marshville Town Council voted to remove the memorial on July 5, Deese and council member Gary Huntley told the Observer.

“It was starting to sink,” and parts of the memorial need costly repairs, Deese said.

The town also is concerned about the age of the major water and sewer pipes beneath the memorial, Deese said.

“They could burst at any minute,” he said.

If that happened, the town would have to move the memorial to fix the lines, he said.

Huntley said he, too, is a veteran.

He said he voted to move the memorial because of that same concern over the aged utility pipes.

“We didn’t want it to become an issue over and over again,” he said, referring to the possibility of having to move the memorial repeatedly for work on the lines.

Council vote advertised in advance

Deese said the July 5 council meeting was open to the public, and the meeting agenda was posted in advance on the town’s website.

“Moving the Memorial Marker from downtown to Cemetery,” the agenda item read, according to the town’s website.

The minutes of the meeting are still to be posted online.

Deese said he recalls the vote being unanimous.

Only one member of the public spoke about the memorial during the public comments section of the meeting, Deese said, a woman who asked why the memorial was being moved.

Despite what the meeting agenda says, the memorial is not being moved to the town cemetery, Deese said. That’s because the memorial is to all those who served, not just to the fallen, he said. A citizen had raised that point with him, he said.

The memorial will be placed in storage until the council decides on a fitting location, Deese said.

One possibility is for the memorial to grace the entrance to a new Marshville government center planned in the next couple of years, he said, but the council hasn’t discussed that or any other location yet.

Smith said moving the memorial “to a more prominent public space should be a priority as we make a plan going forward.”

Elected officials never intended any disrespect or dishonor to veterans in discussing the need to move the memorial, Smith said. “There is nothing nefarious afoot,” he said.

“The good news is that no final decision has been put into action,” Smith said. “And there is still time to discuss this more thoroughly with what might be an appropriate long-term location — and with the appropriate public input.”

Citizens meeting scheduled

Putting the memorial into storage doesn’t sit well with Morgan.

“I got 10 acres within the city limits of Marshville where they could place it until we find a suitable location,” he said.

A meeting of veterans and others concerned about the memorial’s fate is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Kate Clyde’s event venue, 124 E. Main St. in Marshville, Morgan said.

Smith said he will ensure the issue is raised again at the council work session scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday at Town Hall, 118 E. Union St.