MASON — This time next year, the city hopes to dedicate a nearly $2 million monument to the men and women who sacrificed their lives for their country.

        But the public-private committee planning the veterans' memorial still has to raise about $500,000 of the $600,000 in costs the city isn't covering.

HOW TO HELP

For more information or to contribute, call Loretta Terry at 398-4526. Contributions and pledges may also be mailed to Mason Veterans Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 586, Mason 45040.

        Plans call for the memorial to feature several pillars to represent the most devastating wars, and one to represent the hope for no more armed conflict. It also will have an eternal flame and a wall with water spilling over it — a wall of tears.

        “We don't want for much these days, so I think people forget that a lot of people made these sacrifices,” says Patrick Shea, commander of the local Sons of the American Legion chapter.

        The veterans' memorial would be built at the new municipal building on Mason-Montgomery Road, with land and infrastructure donated by the city.

        The project began in early 2001, growing out of an earlier effort by local veterans to build a memorial. Bricks sold for that effort will be incorporated into the memorial, along with bricks being sold now at $35 apiece.

        Mr. Shea said he hopes Mason's big businesses, such as Procter & Gamble, “step up and became good corporate citizens by ponying up for the cause.”

        In addition to building the memorial, the committee is putting together a book of veterans' recollections with the help of the FireBird Theatre. Theater members will be on hand at the American Legion hall, 401 Reading Road, after Mason's Memorial Day parade Monday to take down veterans' stories.

        Mason has lost men in every modern war, including Desert Storm. A memorial is important, Mr. Shea said, because it shows the community's appreciation of its veterans.

        “It gives the veterans an opportunity to reflect on their service to their country,” Mr. Shea said. “It also gives people the idea that the freedoms that we have every day are not free.”

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