Memorial To Honor All In Wwii Cast Your Vote For One Of Three Designs For Monument
Sometimes it takes awhile for a good idea to gel, said Lee Ridout as he considered the three designs for a state World War II memorial.
And the memorial is a good idea, said the Spokane resident and former B-17 gunner.
“We need something like this just to remind people of the sacrifices that were made,” Ridout said as he cast his vote for a design on display at Franklin Park Mall.
“I think any society that forfeits the lives of its young people to strive for world peace needs something to stand in memorial.”
Gene Anderson, a Navy veteran from World War II who stopped by the display table, was surprised the state didn’t already have a memorial to the people who served in that war.
Since it doesn’t, the time has come, Anderson, a Spokane resident, said after casting his ballot.
The state Department of Veterans Affairs is taking models of finalists in a design competition around the state this month to give people a chance to voice an opinion on three very different designs. The comments and votes will be considered by the state committee in charge of building the memorial in Olympia near the capitol.
So far, the non-profit memorial committee has raised about $10,000, said chairman Richard Kirk, who spent part of Tuesday explaining the three designs to people who stopped by the display.
“It will stress the totality of the war effort,” Kirk said, not just highlight military service. It will recognize the contributions to people at home as well as in the military overseas.
World War II shaped Washington state, from the Boeing Co. to the Puget Sound shipyards to the Columbia River aluminum plants, he said.
Helen Gummer of Spokane, who stopped by the table with her husband, Thomas, thought the memorial to both the military and the civilian efforts was a good idea. He served in the Army in North Africa and Italy during the war. She remembers saving coupons for food and gasoline, sending letters and waiting for him to come home in 1944, when they were married.
“They all deserve to be honored,” Helen Gummer said.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: MAKE YOUR CHOICE The display of three possible designs for a state World War II memorial continues today from 10 a.m to 2 p.m. at Franklin Park Mall, 5628 N. Division.