Special brick walkway to honor vets
Published 11:39 am Wednesday, September 5, 2012
PROCTORVILLE — The memorial behind the VFW 6878 Post Home is providing an additional way for veterans to be honored.
Engraved bricks are being purchased to put into a walk around the memorial with the name of a veteran.
“We have a long walkway up to the memorial and we are going to put red bricks up both sides and up around the memorial itself,” Peggy Baker, a member of the ladies auxiliary, said.
The memorial was dedicated in 2010 and features the flags of the United States, Ohio and MIAs while down the walkway are 20 more flags — 15 American and five for the five branches of the service. There are also two other brick walls on whose sides are the insignias of all the armed services. At the other end is a large planter and written on one of the stone medallions on the wall is the inscription, “All Gave Some, Some Gave All.”
The only criterion for the bricks is that they must name a veteran with that person’s rank and branch of service.
“It can be any veteran who has served in a war,” Baker said. “We have them clear back to the Spanish-American and Civil War.”
And the veterans honored do not have to have a tie to Proctorville or Lawrence County.
“I bought one for my dad and two brothers and they live in Parkersburg, W.Va.,” Baker said.
Right now the VFW has received orders for 172 bricks and expects to get the first shipment of the engraved bricks by the end of the month. Then they will be placed into the first part of the proposed walkway.
Approximately 700 bricks are expected to be needed to complete the walks.
If the veteran is deceased, the engraving will say in memory of and if the veteran is living it will say in honor of.
Bricks are $50 a piece and can be ordered by calling Baker at 886-8121 or any member of the Proctorville VFW
“It is just a tribute to all the soldiers who have served,” she said. “Families can go and see the name of their grandfather or father.”