By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
Last May, more than 13,000 citizens visited The Wall That Heals during a three-day stay at Veterans Memorial Park in Great Bend. Larry Parsons helped organize the Vietnam Veterans Memorial replica to make a stop in Great Bend, and said there is magic that comes from the wall.
Vietnam veterans that haven’t been able to visit the memorial in Washington D.C. would open up to him and start talking about their experience during the Vietnam war.
"I lost a friend in Vietnam," said Parsons. "I asked myself when we were done in May if we have done enough? No. We haven't done enough. We went out to the Barton County Historical Society to ask if they could do an exhibit. They had nothing. They didn't have one article. They have about 75 to 100 articles now. We did that, and I asked myself again, 'Is that enough?' No. We can do better."
The Great Bend City Council Monday night approved the placement of a permanent 50' long memorial to be installed at Veterans Park. The memorial is symbolic of The Wall That Heals with a 3D stainless-steel Huey UH-1 helicopter hovering over the wall. The feature will have the U.S. Military branch logos, the Vietnam Service Medal and the iconic elephant grass.
City Administration Brandon Anderson said B&B Metal Arts, out of Hoisington, will construct the memorial that will be located to the west of the main entrance to the park on McKinley Street.
"We're talking about making all of that a big, green avenue of monument area," said Anderson. "The row of flags, the tank and the gun. The bigger picture is this is Veterans Park. If we can make a bigger part of our park be a memorial to our veterans is kind of the way we've wrapped out heads around this particular option."
The memorial itself will cost just over $92,000, and the total project with concrete services will be up to $120,000. A five-person committee, consisting of veterans, has secured $74,000 for the project. The committee will continue fundraising but they will gauge the city’s and Barton County’s interest in contributing to the project.
The City of Great Bend would be responsible for powering the lights to the memorial and taking care of the irrigation system. The memorial group plans to pour concrete in the summer of 2024 and have a dedication of the finished product on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2024.