Construction of memorial at Buckwalter underway. Will it be ready for Veterans Day?
With Veterans Day less than a month away, the town of Bluffton and the American Legion are working to complete a permanent memorial that will honor those who fought for their country.
The town is funding construction of a veteran’s memorial and a town park at Buckwalter Place, across from Evicare and the Don Ryan Center for Innovation. American Legion Auxiliary Unit 205 announced the memorial in August, and construction of the park began shortly after. On Friday, workers were building the frame of the memorial wall.
The town hopes to complete construction just in time for Veterans Day on Nov. 11, spokesperson Debbie Szpanka said.
The town and the American Legion are working together on the project — with the town funding construction while the American Legion sells engraved bricks that will be used throughout the memorial. The bricks are $100 each and feature engraving of up to 3 lines and 14 characters.
The park and memorial will serve as “a peaceful respite for the community and visitors” and a place “to pay tribute and give thanks to those who made the ultimate sacrifice and to those who served,” according to the legion’s website.
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The park will feature two, 6-foot-tall concave walls displaying the emblems of six military branches — Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Merchant Marines — on one side and two engraved quotes on the other, Szpanka said. Three flags — the U.S. flag, the S.C. state flag and the National League of Families POW/MIA Flag — will fly above the memorial. The space will also include an event lawn and an inclusive playground for children of all abilities.
The idea for the park came in 2015 when Kay Ranta, a member of the American Legion, said she was concerned that Bluffton had no way of honoring veterans, according to the legion. In Spring 2017, town council approved the preliminary plan for the park and memorial.
There are about 18,800 veterans currently living in Beaufort County, according to the American Communities Survey done each year by the U.S. Census Bureau.
A majority of those veterans served in the Vietnam Era and the Gulf War after 2001, the survey shows.
