New monument at Howard County park honors military veterans: "We remember their service"
There is a new place to honor veterans in Howard County at the Vivian C. "Millie" Bailey Park in downtown Columbia.
After a decade of planning, designing and building, the Howard County Veterans and Military Families Monument is now open.
"I served in the Navy eight years myself, and I worked with a lot of great people, and so I think it's important that we remember that," said Robert Gillette, the president and CEO of the Howard County Veterans Foundation. "Freedom isn't free, and the price that is paid is ultimately the loss of lives of our service members."
"We honor them"
Robert Gillette explained that the project took nearly 10 years to complete, and now the permanent display is ready for the public to honor the contributions of service members.
"We honor them; we remember their service. We thank them for their efforts, and particularly to their families for what they do for us when we're deployed," Gillette said. "Remember that this is a sacred place. It is a place of honor and respect."
The monument is a symbol representing the community and sacrifice.
"That gold star is kind of bouncing off of what we call the service star, which is the base star, and the service star represents our veterans, and the gold star represents the fallen, and where the two come together, that's how we service members stay connected to our fallen brothers and sisters," Gillette said.
He added, "The benches behind me that sort of surround the monument represent the community gathering around our veterans and military families."
Gillette said that he wants the monument to be a reminder of how sacred life is and what it truly means to serve in the military.
"The freedoms and liberties that we enjoy that enable us to gather here on Fourth of July, you know, for Lakefront Live. It's because of the service and sacrifice of our veterans and military families that we're able to do that," Gillette said. "Read the words that are on the monument, read the quotes that are on the fountain, ponder their meaning, and just think about what it means to be a service member."
