ST. PAULS — There is a renewed and vocal interest in keeping the St. Pauls War Memorial from falling into disrepair.
Town leaders and local veterans will meet to discuss the memorial on Thursday at the American Legion Post 5 building, said Evans Jackson, a member of the St. Pauls Board of Commissioners. He, fellow Commissioner Deborah Inman and members of the committee formed to oversee maintenance of the memorial will be at the meeting.
The meeting is a way to get input and develop ideas for the memorial’s maintenance, Jackson said. Information gathered at the meeting will be presented to the full Board of Commissioners during the board’s next meeting.
The American Legion meets at 635 Veterans Road. The meeting is to start at 7 p.m.
The memorial, erected in November 1997, was thrust back into the public’s consciousness on March 8 when Johnny Bascon, a 57-year-old town resident and Marine Corps veteran, came before the Board of Commissioners to decry the memorial’s appearance. Bascon said the memorial was in dire need of beautification, basic recurring maintenance and repair. He asked for the town’s help.
“It’s an embarrassment,” Bascon said during the meeting. “And I don’t like being embarrassed.”
Richard Davis, the 76-year-old commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 12025 in St. Pauls, agrees with Bascon.
“Richard Davis’ opinion, it is very unkempt at the time,” said the veteran of the U.S. Navy and the Vietnam War.
The memorial should be maintained better because it is more than stone and flags; it’s about remembrance and respect, he said.
“I’ve lost friends in several conflicts,” Davis said. “This is a little way to say we remember the people in our lives that we’ve lost.”
People should show respect for the memorial and what it stands for, he said.
Davis is one of a handful of veterans and residents who have been trying to keep the memorial looking good. Some people go to the memorial when they can to pick up trash. Davis has been replacing flags, at his own expense, at the memorial when needed. The flags have been stolen on several occasions.
There was no flag at the memorial for three weeks before the Board of Commissioners meeting on March, he said.
Flags were flying over the memorial on Wednesday.
“The city doesn’t care about the war memorial or anything until it gets into the newspaper,” Davis said.
He met with Commissioner Jackson on Monday, Davis said. Jackson expressed interest in having maintenance work done at the memorial. Among the work discussed was pressure washing the memorial, cutting down the Bradford pear trees because the trees’ roots are spreading and damaging the concrete and stone around the memorial, and covering the reflecting pool with paving stones.
“Like they talked about from the start,” Davis said.
The reflecting pool was filled with dirt and covered with flowers and shrubbery after a child fell into it.
The memorial is a result of private effort and private money, he said. The town administrator at the time worked with local veterans to get the memorial built, but no city money was spent on it.
“The city’s done nothing for this memorial,” Davis said. “Let me make that clear up front.”
Engraved at the top of the memorial’s center column is “IN HONOR OF OUR FALLEN COMRADES.” At the bottom of the column is carved, “ST. PAULS WAR / MEMORIAL 1997.”
At the base is carved,”GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS. JOHN 15:13.”
