Memorial in park honors veterans

From earliest times, grateful people have found ways to remember and honor their war dead. While some planted simple stones or sacred trees, other more advanced civilizations remembered by constructing grand arches, beautiful cathedrals and monuments of marble and granite.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery is one of the most revered monuments in this country.

On National Memorial Day, May 30, 1977, the citizens of Lauderdale County, dedicated their Veterans Memorial to honor the memory of men and women of all wars from Lauderdale County who have made the supreme sacrifice for this nation.

Six years later, the Florence City Commission renamed the park on which the memorial stands as Veterans Memorial Park in recognition of the veterans of all wars from this area. This tribute was followed later by renaming the drive from downtown Florence to the park as Veterans Drive.

The Veterans Memorial was built during an era when there was unrest and anti-military demonstrations were taking place across the land.

Florence and Lauderdale County were settled during the post-War of 1812 era. There has been from the beginning a recognition and appreciation for those who answer the call of duty during a time of war and conflict.

Anson Cooper, truck driver at the Tennessee Valley Authority and a disabled veteran of World War II, is credited with following a dream of building the memorial. It was his unrelenting energy and his dogged determination to follow this dream that led to the construction of the Veterans Memorial in Florence.

Cooper was a member of American Legion Post 11 and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. This old soldier and patriot died Jan. 6, 1995, at the age of 74, and was buried in the Killen Cemetery.

The Rev. Rowe Wren, United Methodist minister and an engineering design associate with TVA, is credited with creating the design for the memorial. A native of Red Bay, Wren had served in World War II as a medic and chaplain's assistant.

After formalizing his concept of how the memorial should look, Wren's architectural drawings were given to another TVA Design Branch employee, Ebbe Kindahl, for construction layouts to be used by the building contractor. Kindahl was a native of Switzerland and had been in this country for only a short time.

Serving on the first Veterans Memorial building committee along with Cooper, Wren and Kindahl were: Jim Spain, Pete Kelly, Howard Moomaw and Bruce Smith, commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Royce Spry, Lavern Tate, Claude Flippo, J.P. Hooie, Frank Turner and two retired colonels, Bill Thompson and Vernon Brown, and the local Army recruiter.

The Veterans Memorial fundraising campaign was launched Memorial Day 1971. Quick responses included a pledge by the Muscle Shoals Building and Construction Council to provide the labor at no cost.

Craig Construction agreed to provide the contractual service at cost.

The out-of-pocket cost to build the memorial was estimated to have exceeded $60,000.

"Lest we forget" became the theme for planning, funding and building the local Veterans-Memorial.

This architectural structure with lines that resemble a fortress on the battlefield holds in trust that same theme, "Lest we forget." For within its walls are listed the names of our family, friends and neighbors who have made that supreme sacrifice that this great "Nation Under God" shall remain free.

William Lindsey McDonald was appointed Florence city historian in 1989.