After 10 years, Orangeburg's much-anticipated Veterans Memorial Park will officially open for the city's annual Veterans Day service Wednesday, Nov. 11.

The memorial service, monument dedication and ribbon-cutting will begin at 11 a.m.

The new park is located on Riverside Drive across from the Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce.



"This is a culmination of a dream that I wanted to see happen," Orangeburg Mayor Paul Miller said, crediting Orangeburg veteran Vic Fenton for being instrumental in seeing the dream come to fruition. "If it had not been for the tenacity of Vic Fenton, I don't know if we would ever have gotten this thing off the ground."

Miller recalled his first contact with Fenton. A national leader in the Atomic Veterans organization, Fenton initiated the project with a detailed letter to The Times and Democrat in 1998.

"Vic came to me about 10 years ago and started talking to me about some kind of memorial," Miller said, noting the funding challenge was the biggest obstacle until the county's successful passage of the 1-cent (penny) capital project sales tax in 2004.

About $375,000 in penny tax revenues -- $250,000 from the city and $125,000 from the county -- have gone toward the monument.

O'Cain Construction worked on the project. West Summers was its architect.

The project has been trimmed to reduce costs, including the removal of plans for a parking lot and a $60,000 reflecting pool. Also, the height of the obelisk was reduced from about 34 feet to 29 feet. Carolina Granite and Marble was responsible for the obelisk and granite.

The memorial has two benches and nine flag poles, which will fly flags from all the branches of service. A Prisoner of War, U.S. and South Carolina state flag will also fly. Seals of service branches will also be on the memorial. Lighting will be on the flag poles and the obelisk.

The memorial will also have inscribed the various conflicts and space for future conflicts.

About 500 memorial bricks have been sold and will be placed in the memorial at a later date.

Orangeburg's First Presbyterian Church pastor Jud Jordan will give the dedication prayer.

Fenton says while he is grateful for the monument, without incorporating the names of the fallen, it remains just a monument and not a memorial.

"I am little disappointed that they did not put the men that died on the memorial," Fenton said, noting he and Orangeburg County Veterans Affairs Officer John Rivers had successfully gathered most of the names of local fallen soldiers. "What could have been is not there."

Fenton is still hoping that perhaps in the future the names will be added to park.

In addition to dedication of the memorial, the city will also hold its annual Veterans Day memorial service. In the past, the memorial service was held at the DPU Centennial Park in Edisto Memorial Gardens.

The featured speaker for the event is legendary aviator Lt. Gen. E.G. "Buck" Shuler Jr.

The 73-year-old Orangeburg High School and Citadel graduate and now retired officer, flew 107 combat missions as an F-4C aircraft commander and flight leader with the 12th Tactical Fighter Wing at Cam Ranh Bay in South Vietnam.

He also flew the F-4C out of Taegu in Korea on 80 training and combat-support missions during the 1968 Pueblo crisis.

Later in his military career, Shuler made history in leading the longest combat air mission, both in time and distance: the initial air attack upon Saddam Hussein in the Gulf War.

Beyond his flying career, Shuler was one of the key players in the formation of the Mighty Eighth Museum near Savannah, Ga.

The museum has served as living memorial to the men and women who have served in the 8th Air Force since its creation in 1942. Shuler continues to serve as the museum's chairman and CEO.

Tom Harrison will serve as master of ceremonies and American Legion Post 4 chaplain and World War II veteran the Rev. Charles Bennett will provide the opening prayer.

Keeping with the patriotic atmosphere of the event, Orangeburg's Jarvis Brothers will sing the National Anthem and retired U.S. Navy Capt. Eugene Gehry will lead the Pledge of Allegiance.

Bobby Mack, with the Military Order of Purple Hearts, will provide a special recognition for POWs and MIAs and William B. Salley, commander of the Orangeburg Veterans Council, will offer a tribute to veterans.

Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Louis Boone will recognize the Gold and Blue Star Mothers and the Rev. David Childers, First Baptist Church director of music, will lead in "America the Beautiful."

Bill Salley, commander of the Orangeburg County Veterans Council, said the memorial is a long time coming.

"It will finally bring out to the public the vets who have served the nation," Salley said, noting the monument is something much appreciated by the veterans in the county. For many years, a number of local veterans have expressed their desire for the memorial.

"It will be much more visible to those just driving by on U.S. 301. The flags will catch their attention and hopefully draw them to the memorial."

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T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached by e-mail at gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5551. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com

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