Building a soldier memorial - brick by brick

By CANDACE CHASE

The Daily Inter Lake

Jack Heller sees donating to the Veterans Park soldier memorial as more than an opportunity to honor Flathead County's veterans.

"It's a chance to become a part of Flathead history," said Heller, a retired Army colonel.

Now about five months into fundraising, he has embarked on a new campaign to raise awareness and reintroduce the project.

For as little as $110, Heller said, a family may purchase one of the bricks leading to the large bronze-and-granite memorial.

"Grandparents can celebrate the arrival of a child with the name and date of birth," he said. "We'll do anything noncommercial."

Heller and businessman Chuck Olson are the driving forces behind an effort to raise $250,000 for a soldier memorial in Veterans Park (Depot Park) in Kalispell. So far, $40,000 has been raised.

They want to replace the bronze doughboy, a World War I infantryman, which was moved from Kalispell in the late '70s.

Once placed near the county courthouse, the doughboy was moved to storage during a reconstruction project. After a few years, the statue was moved to the Montana Veterans Home, where residents want it to remain.

"We didn't want to upset the vets," Olson said earlier. "So we decided we wanted to have a new memorial in Kalispell."

Designed by Big Arm artist C.A. Grende, the bronze sculpture features a combat soldier in monumental scale kneeling in front of a comrade's hastily dug grave. With its bayonet stuck in the ground, the dead soldier's gun - topped by his helmet and dog tags - marks the site.

"This is going to be quite elaborate," Heller said. "It's going to be a tourist attraction."

The memorial, fronting Main near Center Street, will include landscaping, lighting and a built-in sound system for special occasions. A surveillance system will protect it from vandalism.

The soldier will be 25 percent larger than life-size, resting on a granite base 8 feet high, 8 feet wide and 12 feet long with "We will never forget!" etched on the front.

The base was designed to be large enough to include all the names of Flathead County servicemen and women who died defending the nation, with space to accommodate those lost in the future.

The $250,000 will build the memorial and go toward a maintenance fund.

"Semitool jump-started this with a $10,000 contribution," Heller said.

Supporters of more modest means can help move the project forward. Depending upon placement around the memorial, bricks sell for $110, $160 and $210.

Heller said options for laser inscriptions include recording anniversaries or a family name and date of arrival in the valley. He said families new to the valley could memorialize their arrival by purchasing a brick.

People also may use the brick to remember a veteran with his or her name, rank and serial number.

"I wrote to my Army buddies and asked them to purchase a brick," he said.

Grende also will produce 250 memorial replicas for $2,200 each. The first 196 replicas will carry the name of one of the veterans honored on the memorial.

Heller and Olson hope that banks and other institutions will purchase the replicas for placement in public buildings in the valley.

As another incentive for helping, donors may contribute to a time capsule embedded in the memorial. Plans call for opening the capsule in 50 years.

Heller suggested a graduating class might purchase a brick and place something in the capsule to revisit at its 50th reunion.

"We'll collect everything by the end of June [2007] but we won't encase it until the unveiling," Heller said.

Olson and Heller hope to schedule the ceremony for July 4, 2007, following the Independence Day Parade.

But the time frame depends on raising enough money to meet the casting schedule.

"We've got payments to make," Heller said.

People interested in supporting the project may call Heller at 844-3538 or Chuck Olson Real Estate at 752-1000.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com