A large crowd attended the groundbreaking ceremony held Sunday, August 3 at the site of the soon to be Stewart County War Memorial, in front of the Visitor Center. Stewart County Mayor Robert “Boo” Beecham told attendees, “When I came into office, I had four goals I wanted to get done. I would consider myself a success if I did. This is the biggest one I wanted to tackle and with the help of several men and women and a few companies, we’re going to be able to tackle this. We are thankful for the Memorial that we have in front of the Courthouse, this is in no way diminishing that and the fine folks that put it there. At the time, it was the best we could do as a county and our citizens did all they could do. Now we can do better.”
Beecham said he spoke with Fred Shaw of the Stewart County American Legion and Shaw said he’d been working on this for several years. Beecham said they put together a committee consisting of Joe Griffith, Judge Andy Brigham, Gary Wallace, Shane Smitty, Justin Gaines and Manny Galvan and they’ve met the past few months putting everything together.
Beecham said he estimates, this will cost approximately $55k and they’ve raised $26k. “This is a memorial to those who were killed in action but also a memorial to veterans in general. Long after we are all gone we want your kids and grandkids to walk up and see a plaque and a brick, to keep that fresh in your memory. We are going to be selling bricks and plaques with names on them if you have a veteran you would like to memorialize. The plaques are going to be around $100 and bricks will be around $250. We will have a walkway around the Memorial, we are going to start with a few and hopefully fill it up.” Beecham noted the county maintenance department will help with maintenance as well as a few Veterans groups.
Beecham said his father is a Veteran and he’s had two of his close friends die in action serving the country, so he knows and appreciates their sacrifices. “This would mean the world to me to finish this in a timely manner,” Beecham remarked.
State Rep. Jay Reedy spoke next, “I served as an enlisted soldier and later as a commissioned officer. Under the (Bill) Haslam administration, I was appointed to the Governor’s Council for Military Veterans. I continue to do so under the Lee Administration as well. If you have a loved one that needs my help, contact my office. I take a lot of concern for our veterans and the military, because our spouses and children go through a lot as well when we are called to duty.”…