STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
It’ll probably be a good 60 degrees cooler when what was started on July Fourth is realized.
Leaders of the Wood River Valley’s Veterans community broke ground on the Fourth of July for a Blaine County Veterans Memorial on the northwest corner of the Blaine County Courthouse lawn. They hope to dedicate it on Veterans Day, which should be a sight bit cooler than the 89 degrees that was baking Hailey as they turned the sod.
The monument was designed by Webb’s landscape designer Pedro Garcia. A native of Mexico, he is not a veteran but he is busting with pride that he will be made an American citizen on July 20 after 22 years living in Idaho.
“Being part of the memorial is cool,” said Garcia, who followed his parents north out of their impoverished village in Mexico. “There’s a lot of meaning to it. I took all the different ideas they had, the meanings they wanted conveyed. Then I incorporated different elements reflecting the area we live in such as water, native plants, river rock. They represent things like strength and endurance and flexibility and adaptability.”
About two dozen people including Wood River firefighters, Blaine County Commissioners Jacob Greenburg and Angenie McCleary and Sun Valley Mayor Peter Hendricks attended the groundbreaking.
Hendricks served as an electronic warfare officer and navigator on B52 for nearly five years during the Vietnam era.
“I think this memorial is fabulous. I’m so enthused about it,” said Hendricks, who went into the Air Force out of Notre Dame University.
The idea for the memorial originated years ago but stalled. Commissioner Jacob Greenberg got it going again, reaching out to Webb’s former CEO Steve Mills, who connected him with Webb’s operations administrator Mark G. Phipps, a former member of the U.S. Coast Guard, and Higher Ground Sun Valley, which provides therapeutic recreation for wounded veterans.
Ret. U.S. Army Col. Rich Cardillo, director of operations with Higher Ground, noted that they were holding the groundbreaking on the 241st anniversary of America’s Independence.
“What a tremendous day it is to break ground for the Blaine County Veterans Memorial—a memorial designed by Veterans with the sole purpose of paying tribute in honoring all past, present and future Blaine County veterans for their unselfish sacrifice in serving our country,” he added.
The memorial’s design and materials are unique, Cardillo said. It will include five benches decorated with emblems of the U.S. military branches, a small shallow pond, flags, and several symbolic pieces encompassing such things as a Civil War-era bugle and a steel pot World War I combat helmet.
“The memorial will allow for individual and family reflection and personal remembrance. It will offer an opportunity to make sense of the past, make peace with it and help us move forward into the future,” he said.
“The orientation of the memorial is true north,” he added. “Ever since Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, our country’s quest has been focused on the obtainment of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This memorial helps remind us of the direction we need to continue for our country to be successful.”