Memorial to honor veterans
A new memorial is beginning to take shape in Rathdrum – one brick at a time.
Members of the Rathdrum Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9894 spent the past 18 months raising money at local storefronts by selling sponsor bricks for $35 each.
The group raised more than $29,000 for the Rathdrum Veterans Monument in the Pinegrove Cemetery and fund-raising through brick sales will continue in coming months toward a goal of $31,000. About $8,200 will be used to cover engraving costs.
“For a post so small … it’s a mammoth undertaking, and we’re dong it,” said Michael Pierce, incoming senior vice commander.
Pierce worked with about a dozen of the post’s 74 members to sell 263 bricks to date and collect donations. The monument has space for 400 bricks. The memorial can accommodate about 1,400 names, and inscriptions are open to veterans who have lived in the Rathdrum area, or within the 83858 zip code.
Pierce said many bricks were sold in remembrance, or simply to say thanks. Businesses kicked in large contributions, and kids also helped out by plunking change in memorial fund coffee cans.
Eleanor Comfort, 69, of Rathdrum, purchased a brick in honor of her husband, Carol, who served in the Korean War. Comfort’s father served in World War I and stayed active in the VFW. She’s contributed to VFW efforts for more than 60 years.
“I’ve always had a soft spot,” she said. “This seems like another good project to honor our veterans.”
She said it’s too easy to forget what many men gave to uphold national security and freedoms.
“We have such a marvelous standard of living,” she said. “Such a wonderful country. Let’s stop for a little while and remember.”
The monument now is little more than a cement slab on the northwest end of the Pinegrove Cemetery across from Super 1 in Rathdrum. A few headstones are scattered nearby on the otherwise vacant plot that was set aside by the Sylte family 40 years ago for a veterans monument.
Uncooperative weather has kept bricklayers at bay, but Joe Simpson, post commander, said the bricks will be set in the next three to four weeks.
Simpson and Pierce said the incoming commander, Hiram Atteberi, was key to making the project happen. Atteberi could not be reached for comment.
“It’s a good, honorable project,” said Simpson. “It’s gone so smooth that it’s almost unbelievable.”
The monument, made of Dakota mahogany granite, will stand 5 feet tall with 4-foot-tall walls jutting from each end. The polished slabs sparkle a deep red and will soon be engraved with the first 150 names of Rathdrum veterans and the emblems for each military division. The red bricks with engraved names of supporters and sponsors will accent the monument’s base.
The group will continue adding the names of any veterans who have lived in Rathdrum.
“It will never be completed,” Simpson said.
The memorial also is slated for three 24-foot flagpoles to include the state, national and POW/MIA flags, and two benches on either side of the memorial. An unveiling ceremony is planned for mid-June.
The post will be selling buddy poppies Sunday at IGA and Super 1 in Rathdrum and will hold a memorial service at 11 a.m. Monday at the Pinegrove Cemetery.
For more information, contact Joe Simpson at 687-1482.