A place of solitude for veterans and their families was badly damaged by a windstorm in March.
A two-ton piece of The Lamky, Luther, Whitehead Veterans Memorial has been laying on the ground since the storm.
It’s been propped back, but the breaks on it can’t be repaired.
Now the group that maintains the memorial is asking for the public’s help.
On the marble slabs, each name signifies a lifetime of servitude from people in Baltimore County. The center circle is a tribute to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
Surrounded by the names that made it home.
“Nowhere else that I know have can you have your name memorialized for just serving your country,” Tony DeRuggiero
President of Lamky, Luther, Whitehead Veterans Memorial. “A lot of families do that for their loved ones.”
The storm brought thousands of pounds of marble with over 140 names etched in crashing down.
“It took the monument completely down it crashed into the sidewalk,” said DeRuggiero. “Broke the sidewalk and bent the support bolts completely over.”
The memorial is funded by volunteers and maintained by local scout troops. It’s not insured, and the replacement costs around $15,000.
Shirley Robinson, the memorials Board Chairman, said there was a brief thought to prop it up and leave it broken.
“There’s a lot of sacrifice on that monument,” said Robinson. “Just because a person didn’t die in a war or in a combat situation doesn’t mean their service was any less.”
Instead, the group will give even more for these grounds that mean so much.
“When you come here and you can kind of see every name put your finger on it run through the name, that’s a person,” said Robinson. “It’s a human being and I think it brings it home for people.”
They have ordered another stone that’ll be blank.
It’s expected to arrive in October but they need the public’s help.
To help fund the new stone for the memorial click here.
