Submitted by SMSgt. Jessica Davis, Footsteps of the Fallen: Fight for Freedom – Beruit and Beyond Chair
It has been a while since we have provided any updates on the memorial. We recently held our first fundraiser on September 11. It was a golf outing held at the Black Hawk Golf Course and was a huge success. We had 32 teams and raised over $8,000. We have now raised approximately $28,000 for the memorial. While it doesn’t sound like much when the final amount needed is $250,000, all but the money from the golf outing has been raised through donations. Just within the past month, we have started to work with some well-known organizations in the county that will be working with us to bring that end goal closer to reality. Stay tuned for more details! You can follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date on the latest information – @footstepsofthefallenbcpa.
FOOTSTEPS OF THE FALLEN: FIGHT FOR FREEDOM – BEIRUT AND BEYOND (OCTOBER 23, 1983 – )
The nine names that will be memorialized are:
Maj John W. Macroglou – USMC (Beirut 1983)
Pfc Timothy R. Brown, Jr. – Army (Iraq 2003)
Sgt Ernest G. Bucklew – Army (Iraq 2003)
Spc Shawn M. Davies – Army (Iraq 2004)
Pvt Dylan R. Paytas – Army (Iraq 2005)
Sgt Allan R. Bevington – Army (Iraq 2006)
Sgt Joshua J. Rimer – Army (Afghanistan 2009)
Sgt Robert C. Sisson, Jr. – Army (Afghanistan 2011)
SSgt Dylan J. Elchin – Air Force (Afghanistan 2018)
Some of the details:
Size:
- The memorial will be 28 feet in diameter
- The tablets will be 42”x18”x18” at the smallest (end pieces) and the center tablet will be approximately 86”x14”x120”
Tablets:
- 2 tablets on the front and 4 tablets on the back will be left blank. We are doing this for the future in the tragic event that we have to ever more names to the memorial.
- The memorial will arch (as shown on the rendering), this symbolizes the embrace of those no longer with us. It is meant to provide comfort as you are surrounded by the memorial.
- The design of the circle is to symbolize the global war on terror. In the middle of the circle will be a smaller circle with the name of the memorial
- Footprints of boots will be etched at the base of the memorial leading up to the main tablet.
- Main tablet (front)
- The Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) medal will be at the top of the main tablet.
- A field cross will be at the lower right-hand corner
- The service emblems will be below the flag and above the names of the fallen.
- The names will be in order of death, not listed alphabetically
- Main tablet (back)
- Silhouette of male and female military member and another flag in between the two silhouettes
- Title of the memorial
- Quote: “Greater love has no one than this, that they lay down their life for their friends”
- Tablet left of the main (front) (when facing)
- The images from Beirut, Khobar, and the USS ColeTablet right of the main (front) (when facing)
- The images from September 11th (twin towers), Iraq, and Afghanistan
- Far left tablet (when facing)
- “The U.S. will not be cowed by terrorists” – George H. W. Bush (Oct 26, 1983) – this will be on both the front and back of the tablet.
- Far right tablet (when facing)
- “We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail” – George W. Bush (Sept 11, 2001)
Material:
- The entire memorial will be done in granite. The tablets will be in a black granite and the base will be a gray granite. This was done to make the memorial its own (black), but to bring the Korean War Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial (gray) and this memorial together. Everything on the memorial will be etched.
Sidewalks:
- There will be three sidewalks that will be done in memorial bricks. One will connect the memorial to the main sidewalk, one will be angled towards the Vietnam memorial, and the last will connect to the sidewalk that comes through the middle of Memorial Park. The memorial bricks are still being figured out and we hope to have details on that soon.
Cash, check, or money orders can be sent to:
Footsteps of the Fallen
c/o Jessica Davis
P.O. Box 589
Koppel, PA 16136
(Make check or money order payable to VVA Chapter 862 and write MEMORIAL in the memo section)
Electronic payment methods:
- Venmo: To either Jessica Davis @JDavis2009 or Jacob Barsottini @VVAChapter862
- PayPal: go to your individual account and submit payment to Jbarsottini.vva862@gmail.com
If you need a W-9 for tax purposes, please let me know.
We would like to thank everyone that has donated so far. In addition, a huge thank you goes out to Beaver Borough for the property on where the memorial will be located.
Thank you,
Jessica Davis,
Chairman
Email: footstepsofthefallenbcpa@gmail.com
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