Winchester’s World War II and Korean War Memorial continues development

The World War II and Korean War Memorial in Winchester, locat­ed at 18 East Broadway Street, has been a work in progress since con­struc­tion began in May 2024. 

Viewing it from the out­side, some notable progress has recent­ly occurred. Since the instal­la­tion of six spring arborvi­tae trees in August, plant­ed by Red River Lawn & Landscaping. End pedestal caps have been set up.

These pedestal caps dis­play geog­ra­phy with names of dif­fer­ent coun­tries and places asso­ci­at­ed with both World War II and the Korean War. 

For exam­ple, when view­ing the memo­r­i­al from Broadway Street, the left­most end pedestal cap fea­tures a map that includes India, China, the Marshall Islands, the Solomon Islands, the Philippines, Japan, New Guinea, as well as France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Algeria, and Spain. 

Although fas­ci­nat­ing, each map hints at the some­times grim reminders of the hero­ic sac­ri­fices made in war.

Once the ded­i­ca­tion has tak­en place, view­ers will be able to see dif­fer­ent num­bers on each map, each one show­ing where an indi­vid­ual died. Brick mark­ers, dis­play­ing the name of each mil­i­tary mem­ber along with avail­able infor­ma­tion such as their rank, branch of ser­vice, and dates of both birth and death, will be locat­ed at the memo­r­i­al, accom­pa­nied by a cor­re­spond­ing num­ber to iden­ti­fy them in con­junc­tion with the num­ber on the map. 

During the week of October 14, con­trac­tors con­tin­ued to work dili­gent­ly. Specifically, con­crete trench­es were dug to serve as the base for each indi­vid­ual mark­er. At the loca­tion of each soon-to-be-installed mark­er, it will be built up using con­crete brick so that the mark­ers will be flush with the final grade, with an approx­i­mate 12-inch space between each mark­er filled with soil and sod. 

Currently, there are 77 mark­ers for World War II vet­er­ans and 19 for Korean War vet­er­ans from Winchester and Clark County who did not return home. 

The memo­r­i­al, locat­ed just past the walk­way, fea­tures two curved walls with the dates of each war inscribed on them. Specifically, World War II is not­ed to have last­ed from December 7, 1941, to September 2, 1945, while the Korean War is stat­ed to have exist­ed from June 25, 1950, to July 27, 1953. The length of each curved wall is pro­por­tion­al to the num­ber of days of each con­flict. As detailed in the orig­i­nal out­line, oth­er design ele­ments include a 40-inch black flag­pole on a 24-inch con­crete pedestal. Concrete paving will be avail­able for those who wish to walk by and view the memorial. 

The Clark County Veterans Council, ini­tial­ly formed near­ly twen­ty years ago, has led the effort to estab­lish a World War II and Korean War Memorial. Members include Roy Hudson, 25^th Judicial Circuit Court Judge David M. Ward, for­mer Winchester Mayor Ed Burtner, and Dee Birkes, who has been promi­nent due to his fundrais­ing efforts. 

The Clark County Veterans Council will meet on Monday, November 3, with the goal of final­iz­ing plans for the ded­i­ca­tion of the memo­r­i­al. Tentatively, the goal for the memo­r­i­al ded­i­ca­tion is Wednesday, November 12. Additional infor­ma­tion will be released as it becomes available. 

To learn more, includ­ing how to pur­chase a mark­er, vis­it www.clarkcountywarmemorial.org.