The towns war memorial added a new walkway and flowers to make the area accessible and appealing to residents.
Photo credit: West Springfield Veterans Services Department
WEST SPRINGFIELD — Before hosting a ceremony on Aug. 7 to recognize Purple Heart Day, residents gathered on the town common to rededicate the war memorial following recent improvements made in partnership with local veterans groups and the Garden Club.
West Springfield Department of Veterans Services Director Marc Massey explained that when the war memorial was made in the 1950s, it included veteran’s names from World War I, World War II, the Revolutionary War, and the Civil War, before including names from the global war on terrorism.
Back in the 1980s, the Vietnam veterans in West Springfield built a monument for those who lost their lives during the Vietnam War, but because of the politics and the emotions during that time, they kept it separate from the main war memorial on the town common.
Massey said the local VFW, American Legion and Veterans Advisory Board have talked about moving the Vietnam Veterans memorial closer to the war memorial for the last couple of years.
Massey explained the reasoning for the decision and said, “At this point in time, everybody kind of needs to be included. We’ve got to kind of put all that, those feelings to the side.”
The VFW commander of West Springfield reached out to Massey to let him know that his organization had $30,000 it needed to spend. He wanted to be able to move the Vietnam veterans monument and clean up the war memorial.
After collaborating with the town and local contractors, the Vietnam monument was placed directly in front of the names of the Vietnam killed in action veterans that are on the back side of the memorial.
The distance between the memorial and the monument is six meters. Massey said that’s significant because in military terms, when you’re on a walking patrol, you always keep about that same distance between you and the person in front of you.
The Garden Club planted flowers in between the monument and the memorial. The memorial also features a circular concrete sidewalk that allows all individuals to be able to have access to the entire war memorial.
Massey said they are also in the process of working on putting a global war on terrorism monument adjacent to the Vietnam monument. It will be facing the global war on terrorism names on the war memorial.
Massey talked about the recent and future projects leading to a space for the town to pay their respects.
He stated, “The overall concept and idea is to make that area a memorial park so to speak. It’s all together, it looks pleasing and very inviting. There’s a couple of benches so that way somebody can come up there and take a moment and reflect.”
