Remembering cost of freedom

There's a new icon in place in downtown Kalispell and it gets its public dedication at 11 a.m. today in Kalispell's Depot Park, following the Fourth of July parade.

The new addition is a memorial that commemorates the freedom that we all celebrate today. But it also emphasizes the sacrifices that so many have made to preserve that freedom.

What better day than today - the day when independence is the centerpiece of celebrations far and wide - to dedicate a monument to those who have fallen in defense of freedom?

The Flathead County Veterans Memorial is the culmination of more than a year of effort by concerned citizens, led by Jack Heller and Chuck Olson, who saw something missing in downtown Kalispell: There was no statue of a veteran to honor the area's war dead.

The community cooperation that propelled the memorial from an idea to the placement of the impressive statue on Main Street is akin to the sense of community that drove our Founding Fathers to create a new country 231 years ago.

So far, $192,000 has been raised of the $250,000 needed for the memorial, and the money has been bolstered by hundreds of hours of donated labor plus valuable donations of materials.

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.

The base of the monument will contain names of all the Flathead County servicemen and women who died defending our nation - with space to accommodate those who will be lost in the future.

Fred Wheaton heads the list as the first from the county to make the ultimate sacrifice. He died in combat in the Spanish-American War.

Kane Funke and Matthew Saltz were the most recent, losing their lives in Iraq.

"We Will Never Forget" is etched into the base of the statue.

That is a mantra that applies not only to our war heroes, but also to the farsightedness that led to the founding of our great nation. We honor both today on this Fourth of July 2007.