| Veterans
Memorial Placed on Town Green |
| Project
Was a Decade in the Making |
By Jeannie Baumann
Observer Staff Writer |
| One day before the 60th anniversary of the attacks on Pearl
Harbor, the Herndon Veterans Memorial was placed Dec. 6 on
the Town Green, a culmination of nearly a decade of planning
and more than four years of fund-raising between the town
and Herndon-Reston American Legion Post 184 to erect a memorial
in honor of all war veterans. |
| "We're just glad it's here," said Legionnaire and post adjutant
Jack Hickson. "We thought it was something that was sorely
needed for all the men and women that have left here and went
in the service." |
| Hickson said there will be a dedication ceremony next Memorial
Day on May 27, following the post's annual ceremony at Chestnut
Grove Cemetery. |
| Adjacent to the Fortnightly Library and the Washington and
Old Dominion Trail, the granite memorial stands 10 feet tall
and weighs 5,000 pounds. Charlie Reidbord, project coordinator
for the town, said surrounding the memorial will be three
brass plaques with the official remembrance of the veterans,
as well as some of the memorial's major sponsors. Benches
shaped in a semicircle will border the three sides closest
to the Municipal Center and shrubbery will outline the entire
area. |
| The memorial is a half-size replica of the obelisk at the
U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis that was built in honor the
town's namesake, Capt. William Lewis Herndon. |
| Hickson said the inception for the project occurred nearly
a decade ago, at one of the post's first Memorial Day services
at Chestnut Grove Cemetery. Herndon Mayor Thomas D. Rust,
who delivered the keynote address that year, was approached
by Hickson and another Legionnaire who commented that the
town should have a veterans memorial. Rust told Hickson that
he agreed and Hickson said that as he was walking away, the
mayor said, "Why don't you do something about it?" |
| "That's when it was mentioned," Hickson recalled. "Bob Jensen,
Demitrius Hendrick and Mayor Rust were the original starters
of it." |
| In October 1997, the town authorized $25,000 to pay for
the design and engineering arm of the project. A month later,
the post began its fund-raising campaign, consisting of direct
mail efforts, donation boxes at area businesses and donations
from Legionnaires and the post itself. While the post raised
$26,500, they still fell about short of the memorial's $70,000
price tag. |
| The additional funding came from a $50,000 state grant,
which Hickson said almost didn't happen. After the Town of
Bedfordäwhose population experienced the most causalities
per capita in the state during World War IIäwas initially
denied its application, Hickson said the post felt discouraged.
But Town Manager John E. Moore called Hickson and suggested
that the post, not the town, should submit the grant application.
|
| "I shudder to think what would have happened if he hadn't
called me," Hickson said. |
| But Moore shies away from taking credit, explaining that
town attorney Richard B. Kaufman had actually made the suggestion.
|
| "I was just a messenger," he said. |
| Sponsored by Herndon's then-state legislators, Del. Vincent
F. Callahan and Sen. William C. Mims, the bill was approved
by the General Assembly during last year's session. The post
delivered a check for $76,500 to the Herndon Town Council
this past June. |
| "It's very gratifying, and particularly coming to fruition
during these days that we're experiencing now," Moore said. |
