Mar 2 2019
Deanne Coffin | KPVI.com
A monument to honor fallen soldiers and their families is inching closer to its fund raising goal.
City officials say $700 thousand dollars has already been donated to the new ‘Gold Star’ monument, but they still need more to make it happen in time to break ground by the end of April.
The ‘Gold Star’ monument is a memorial monument that honors the fallen and the families who have lost a loved one in service to the nation.
The memorial will be the first ‘Gold Star’ monument in the State of Idaho.
Rebecca Webb is the Chair of the Idaho Gold Star Families Memorial Monument committee.
She lost her son in June of 2017.
“My son is a hero. He will always be my hero. I think it’s important as a community, as a state and as a nation that we do not forget the price paid for our freedoms and that we never forget those who have sacrificed and have given their lives so that we can be free,” says Rebecca Webb, Chair, Idaho Gold Star Families Memorial Monument Committee.
The first ‘Gold Star’ monument in Idaho will be placed on a half-acre park in the Northgate area with walking trails tied into it.
‘I’m hoping that this monument will bring healing to these ‘Gold Star’ families,” says Webb.
The monument will be seven feet tall and 13 feet wide with a curvature of about five feet.
It will be made out of black granite with a cut out of a soldier saluting surrounded by 44 stars representing each county in the State of Idaho and a feather for each one of Idaho’s nationally recognized Native American Tribes.
“This great park that we’re going to have, it’s just going to be an incredible park that you’ll be able to go and sit and contemplate and quite frankly really truly show respect and honor those that have fallen, those that are serving even today,” says Mayor Brian Blad, City of Pocatello.
Officials say the cost of the project is over a million dollars and they still need to raise $250 thousand more dollars.
They hope to break ground on the monument by the end of April.
Currently 47 monuments have been dedicated in 41 states and Pocatello is one of 54 monuments that are already in progress.
The committee for the ‘Gold Star’ monument will be at ‘Chrome in the Dome’ and the Spring Fair.
If you would like to donate or want more information about the ‘Gold Star’ monument, you can go to www.IdahoGoldStarMemorial.com