The deadline is Saturday, March 20 to honor a veteran with a memorial brick paver for installment at the Highland County Veterans Memorial Walk of Honor at the courthouse in Hillsboro.
Hillsboro VFW Post 9094 Commander Rick Wilkin said each brick costs $50 and is a great way to recognize and honor the service of all veterans, living and deceased.
He said the March 20 deadline would insure that the newest additions to the memorial’s walk of honor would be installed in time for the annual Memorial Day observance on Monday, May 31.
Wilkin, a Vietnam veteran who saw action during the 1968 Tet Offensive in Southeast Asia, added that the offer is open to all veterans who served their country during war or in peacetime, on foreign shores or while stationed domestically, and for those who are currently in the armed forces in addition to veterans organizations.
“We’d like to have everything in by Saturday,” he said, “but for those who may not have the money until Saturday and would still like to honor a veteran, we’ll give them the first few days next week before we cut it off.”
This year’s Memorial Day observance in Hillsboro will be a modest affair, Wilkin said, similar to last year’s but unlike previous years that saw bleachers set up around the memorial, a special guest to speak on the significance and sacrifice the holiday recognizes, and a lunch at the VFW Post afterward.
“I might say a few words and maybe we’ll have someone speak briefly about what Memorial Day is all about,” he said. “We won’t have a band this year and probably not some well-known speaker like we’ve had in past years.”
Wilkin said he is hopeful that next year all the health restrictions will be a thing of the past and a sense of normalcy will return so a proper observance of the holiday can be held.
Applications for the memorial bricks can be obtained at VFW Post 9094, located behind Dairy Queen at 1000 W. Main St. in Hillsboro, or by stopping into Rick’s Body Shop in Allensburg at 2955 U.S. Route 50. Checks should be made payable to the Highland County Veterans Memorial.
For order information, call 937-393-0211.
Reach Tim Colliver at 937-402-2571.
