By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
A roughly $115,000 memorial was approved by the Great Bend City Council last week to be placed at Veterans Memorial Park. The memorial is designed for any Vietnam veteran to instantly recognize the memorial is for them. The memorial is symbolic of “The Wall That Heals” and will contain the Vietnam Service Medal.
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B&B Metal Arts, based out of Hoisington, is constructing the project. B&B has done outdoor memorials around town, including the “Play Ball” memorial at the Great Bend Sports Complex and the “Breaking The Sod” memorial at the intersection of 10th Street and Highway 56. Artist Bruce Bitter is ready to get to work on the 50' memorial.
"There are two wings, each 25 feet long," said Bitter. "It's two and a half feet at the bottom and it goes up to five feet. With a concrete base of 18 inches, it'll be about six and a half feet to the top of this. The helicopter will be another two or three feet above that."
Along with the memorial, there will be a concrete foundation, ADA sidewalk, park benches and flood lights. Above the wall will be a 3D, 12' stainless-steel Huey UH-1 helicopter. The helicopter bottom will be eight feet in the air, with the whole memorial overlooking Veterans Lake.
"When the sun comes up in the east, it may go up over the houses and hit this memorial around 10 o'clock when you have all your gatherings," said Bitter. "It'll have some shine to it."
There will be 12 elephant plants constructed of stainless-steel, with each plant having approximately 10 leaves.
"We did put the elephant grass in to shield the memorial from anyone walking on top of this," said Bitter.
Left and right of the wall ends will be the ground troops in combat style, protecting the wall and helicopter. The 5' sculptures depict ground troops hiding in elephant grass.
Interpretive plaque and stands are also included in the project to tell the story of the memorial and include veterans names. The 15" x 24" plaque will also be stainless-steel.
The memorial is expected to dedicated on Veterans Day, next November.