American Veterans Disabled For Life Memorial

[pinboy3niner]

26. There also is a project to establish a Gold Star Mothers National Monument at Arlington Cemetery

Last edited Tue Oct 7, 2014, 08:02 AM - Edit history (1)

The project is in the advanced stages, with enabling legislation already passed and a site approved.

The monument would be based on a bronze sculpture by Andrew Chernak that was dedicated at the Putnam County Veterans Memorial Park in Kent, New York, in 2006.


Sculptor Andrew Chernak's monument to Gold Star Mothers at Kent, New York.

The current issue of The Veteran, the national publication of Vietnam Veterans of America, features a detailed story about the project and the sculptor:

SCULPTING SORROW: Andrew Chernak & the Gold Star Mothers Monument
BY XANDE ANDERER
...

The (New York) statue was dedicated in July of 2006-—the first such monument depicting a Gold Star Mother to be erected.

The powerful reactions to the monument over the next few years sparked discussions about erecting copies of the statue in other locations. This prompted the AGSM president at the time, Judith Young, to remark that there should be a national monument honoring Gold Star Mothers. Discussions began to lobby for a Gold Star Mothers National Monument in Washington, D.C., with the Kent statue serving as a prototype for a slightly re-imagined monument.

A 501©(3) foundation was formed to raise funds. Legislation was introduced in Congress seeking authorization to begin the planning process with the National Park Service. HR 1980, The Gold Star Mothers National Monument Act, passed in 2011, authorizing the foundation “to establish a monument in the District of Columbia area, to be maintained as a unit of the National Park System.” Plans for the monument have now moved past the notoriously contentious site selection process, having secured approval from the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission, with the guidance of architect/consultant J.C. Cummings and Glen DeMarr, NPS Project Manager of Lands, Resources and. Planning for the National Capital Region.

A fresh survey of the approved site at Arlington National Cemetery, costing $12,000, has been completed, and final considerations such as traffic and visual sightlines are falling into place. Though other challenges still exist, the last big hurdle remains fund-raising, which has only now begun in earnest. Chernak is optimistic that groundbreaking can begin in about two years.

...


If you would like to contribute to the Gold Star Mothers National Monument, or would like more information, visit the Gold Star Mothers National Monument Foundation’s website, http://www.gsmmonument.org/ or call 856-235-6918.


http://vvaveteran.org/34-5/34-5_gsmanderer.html