As the nation is poised on the brink of another war, Hollister
is engaged in establishing a memorial to deceased local military
veterans.
As the nation is poised on the brink of another war, Hollister is engaged in establishing a memorial to deceased local military veterans.
The City Council approved the funds for the project that will be managed by Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9241. A thousand commemorative tiles, to be purchased at $100 each, will list names of veterans of the county, or veterans of families who now live here, and who died after they left the military forces.
It is part of the renovation of Veterans Memorial Building and each of the 6- by-12-inch black granite tiles will carry three lines of text. They will be placed in the base of either of the two war memorials that list the names of local residents who died in military service in World Wars I and II, and in Korea and Vietnam.
No sane person looks upon war as glorious. Many are waged for political expediency or for material gain and even those fought for national defense or to halt aggression take a ghastly toll of lives and property.
But the men and women who served in them or whose military service was in peacetime deserve recognition for that service. They gave up years of their youth because their country needed them.
Many of the people who settled Hollister were veterans of the Civil War and even of the Mexican-American War. Some Civil War veterans like Johnnie Young left remarkable descendants who have contributed and are still contributing much to local life. Local veterans of the Spanish-American War and World War I have all since died.
Local veterans of World War II number fewer every year, and many who served during the Korea or Vietnam War eras are now grandparents, or have since died.
The program will repay the City of Hollister for the $96,000 it approved for installation, engraving and maintenance of the tiles, and will set aside $8 of each $100 for future maintenance.
Charlie Scott, VFW commander, said payments made by March 29 would assure that the tile would be in place by the building’s re-dedication in the spring. Further information may be obtained by calling Scott at 638-0928.
