Honoring veterans in St. Helens one more podium, flag at a time

In time to celebrate America's birthday, St. Helens' VFW put the finishing touches on a monument aimed at honoring those who have died defending the country's freedom.

Judge Advocate Gene Hester, serving with VFW Post 1440, was on hand Thursday, July 4, at McCormick Park, to help dedicate podiums and flags at the Veterans Memorial Plaza.

The Veterans Memorial wall honors those who have died in conflict, from World War I to more recent wars.

“We’ve installed the seven branch of service podiums and the branch of service flags in the back of the podiums,” Hester said. “On the front of the podiums is a definition of the military branch.”

The branches listed, engraved in granite, are the U.S. Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Merchant Marines and the Space Force.

“We actually had the podiums in at Veteran's Day last year, but they weren’t finished,” he said. “They were just finished up a few months ago. We just recently put up the flags.”

Hester said the project has been funded through grant and VFW money. The Spotlight reported last November that Post 1440 paid approximately $50,000 toward Veterans Memorial improvements.

“There was also a lot of work done to help out by the St. Helens parks department,” he added.

At the dedication July 4, Hester was pleased with the crowd to celebrate the expanded monument.

"It was a very good turnout, very good,” Hester said, noting he has been pleased with the evolution of the project. “I’m really excited about it. I’m mostly excited about what it represents and having this thing be there for people to see.”

Hester added, “It really warms my heart when I visit there on different days. During the week, there will be families there, and picnic tables under the gazebo, and their kids will be out rollerblading on the concrete.”

As to the future, Hester is confident the Veterans Memorial at McCormick Park will grow.

“We’ll be adding more stuff to it every two years,” he said.