FLATWOODS, Ky. (Tribune News Service) — The memories of men and women who lost their lives during military service may mean a little more among the crowd of men wearing red jackets in the reception hall of Bailey Funeral Home on Monday morning.
The crimson jackets are the new uniform of the old leather necks, devil dogs and jar heads who now make up the Marine Corps League, Greenbo Detachment No. 1345, and lead the effort to fund and construct Kentucky’s first Gold Star Families Memorial Monument. The aging Marines were joined by Medal of Honor recipient Woody Williams, who was carrying an oversized check to present during the meeting.
“It’s good to see this turnout of redcoats, but it will take the community to make this happen,” Williams said, explaining the goal of the Gold Star Families Memorial Monuments is to “finally, and I stress finally, honor the families — the cousins, aunts, uncles, sons and daughters” with a loved one who was unable to come home after serving their country.
Noting he hopes to someday see a Gold Star Memorial Monument in every state, Williams said “This will be the first Gold Star Memorial Monument in the state of Kentucky.” The proposed monument, which will be set with four black granite facings as part of a design that depicts a military service member through cut-outs in two adjoining sections, will be placed at the Kentucky Veterans Cemetery Northeast in Argillite.
Citing a conversation with a man named Steve who was a young boy when he lost his father in combat, Williams said Gold Star Family members are often unaware of their status as a Gold Star Son. Williams also read a newspaper account of the funeral for Pfc. Scott Messer of Ashland, who died in February, 2006 while serving in Iraq.
“Their life is never going to be the same,” Williams said of Messer’s family.
“I’ve been told wounds heal with time, but some scars never go away. They are there for a lifetime,” before explaining the origin of the Gold Star, which began with blue stars hanging in the windows of American homes to show how many family members were involved with the war effort. A gold star in place of the blue, Williams said, “meant one of them wasn’t coming home.”
None of the monuments in the nation’s capital honor Gold Star families, Williams added. Individual communities, he suggested, are a better place to pay those tributes “because you can’t go to any community and not find someone who gave up a family member in service to the armed forces.”
Speaking of the monument’s unique use of open space to depict the missing service member, Williams said it is an idea he would like to take credit for, although it wasn’t his idea. He explained the concept was born while he was sketching out ideas including an 8-foot tall “full body in salute.” The designer suggested cutting the image out instead. “He said, ‘He’s missing. He’s not here.’ I said to myself, ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’” Williams said, adding the sight of the shadow cast by the monument in mid afternoon is especially inspiring.
“If that doesn’t get to you, then you need to see a psychiatrist,” he said with a smile.
Williams turned over an oversized $5,000 check from the foundation that bears his name to get the fundraising effort for the memorial monument under way.
Among the supporters in Monday’s audiences were Kevin Howard, Greg Stevens and Wes Napier, members of the Carpenters Union Local 472, who will be on the team that has volunteered to make sure the new memorial is properly set in place. The union will also work with contractor Atlas Construction of Ashland, which has pledged to use of a crane to properly set and align the heavy granite facings.
“Atlas Construction also previously helped with the (Gold Star Families Memorial Monument) in Institute, West Virginia,” noted spokesman Kevin Howard, who explained they will supervise the foundation and site work required for the memorial.
While the local Marine Corps League detachment is heading the charge for the memorial monument, each of the organizers stressed it is something to honor fallen members of each of the nation’s five military branches, with the official seals of each as a prominent part of the design.
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