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State to add war memorial names twice every year
Friday, January 26, 2007 | 2 comment(s)
SALEM (AP) - The state Department of Veterans Affairs decided this week that names will be added to the Afghan-Iraqi Freedom Memorial on Veterans Day and Memorial Day, rather than individually as deaths occur.
The deaths last weekend of Army Sgt. Sean Fennerty, 25, of Portland, and Army Pfc. Ryan Hill, 20, of Keizer, prompted officials to discuss the protocol. A total of four solders with Oregon ties have died since the monument at the Capitol Mall was dedicated.
“Everybody's hope was there would be no need for additional names to be added to the memorial,” said Paula Brown, deputy director of the Veterans Affairs Department.
Names of the most recent fallen soldiers will be etched in the black granite wall on Memorial Day, May 28. Any other deaths before then also would be added then, Brown said. Deaths that occur between May and November would be inscribed on Veterans Day.
The monument currently includes the names of 74 soldiers or Marines with Oregon ties who have died in Iraq or Afghanistan. It was dedicated in November amid some criticism that it was inappropriate to unveil a memorial while the fighting is still under way.
Clay and MJ Kesterson of Independence, the father and stepmother of Army Chief Warrant Officer I Erik Kesterson, who was killed when two helicopters collided on Nov. 15, 2003, helped spearhead the creation of the memorial, which includes a water fountain with a statue of a soldier overlooking a globe. They backed the decision to add names on significant veterans holidays.
“We thought it would be more formal, more respectful,” MJ Kesterson said.
Besides Hill and Fennerty, Cpl. Billy Farris and Sgt. Brennan Gibson, both of the Army, must be added to the wall.
The deaths last weekend of Army Sgt. Sean Fennerty, 25, of Portland, and Army Pfc. Ryan Hill, 20, of Keizer, prompted officials to discuss the protocol. A total of four solders with Oregon ties have died since the monument at the Capitol Mall was dedicated.
“Everybody's hope was there would be no need for additional names to be added to the memorial,” said Paula Brown, deputy director of the Veterans Affairs Department.
Names of the most recent fallen soldiers will be etched in the black granite wall on Memorial Day, May 28. Any other deaths before then also would be added then, Brown said. Deaths that occur between May and November would be inscribed on Veterans Day.
The monument currently includes the names of 74 soldiers or Marines with Oregon ties who have died in Iraq or Afghanistan. It was dedicated in November amid some criticism that it was inappropriate to unveil a memorial while the fighting is still under way.
Clay and MJ Kesterson of Independence, the father and stepmother of Army Chief Warrant Officer I Erik Kesterson, who was killed when two helicopters collided on Nov. 15, 2003, helped spearhead the creation of the memorial, which includes a water fountain with a statue of a soldier overlooking a globe. They backed the decision to add names on significant veterans holidays.
“We thought it would be more formal, more respectful,” MJ Kesterson said.
Besides Hill and Fennerty, Cpl. Billy Farris and Sgt. Brennan Gibson, both of the Army, must be added to the wall.
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