NAMES OF 54 SOLDIERS ADDED TO WV VETERAN’S MEMORIAL (1999 Hancock County Courier)
HANCOCK COUNTY COURIER
MARCH 4, 1999
(contributed by Bonnie)
NAMES OF 54 SOLDIERS ADDED TO WV VETERAN’S MEMORIAL
The names of 54 West Virginia soldiers have been added to the West Virginia Veterans Memorial on the State Capitol Complex in Charleston, According to officials of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, which oversees the monument, names of eligible veterans are added periodically as submissions are verified.
The Memorial honors West Virginians who died or were declared missing while on active duty during 20th-century military actions. To be eligible, veterans killed or missing in action must have been born in West Virginia or must have been a state resident six months prior to military service.
Each year more than 100,000 people visit the Memorial. The names of more than 10,000 West Virginians killed in the line of duty appear on the two-story oval structure. Commissioned in 1985 as a memorial to Vietnam veterans, the monument was expanded to include veterans of all 20th-century military actions. The Memorial is based on a design by Charleston ‘Sculptor P. Joseph Mullins and was engineered by ZMM Inc. G”&G Builders began construction in 1990. The $2.8 million memorial was dedicated on November 11, 1995. Bronze statues of a World War I infantryman, a World War II sailor and a Korean War airman, all sculpted by Mullins, are already in place on the monument. Plans call for the final statue, a Vietnam-era Marine, to be dedicated this year on Veteran’s Day.
To visit the monument, take exit 99 (State Capitol/Greenbrier Street) off Interstate 64/77. There is limited metered parking at the State Capitol Complex. Addition visitor parking is available at Laidley Field on Elizabeth Street with shuttle service to the complex.
The Division’s Internet web site includes information about the Memorial, including the names of all veterans listed on the monument. Information about the Memorial can be found at http://www.wvlc.wvnet.edu/culture/fron.html under the heading “Archives and History.” (New link: http://www.wvculture.org/history/wvvets.html)
Anyone with information about the veterans listed on the Memorial or about any West Virginia veteran killed or missing in action whose name does not appear on the wall should contact Fredrick Armstrong at (304) 558-0220, ext. 164.
The Division, an agency of the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts, brings together the state’s past, present and future through programs and services in the areas of archives and history, the arts, historic preservation and museums. The Division is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.