Sonora, CA — A memorial depicting over 4,000 names of the men and women killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars will be in Sonora June 19-21.
“Welcome Home Heroes” was built by the First Assembly of God Church in Manteca at a cost of over $20,000 and was designed to be mobile so that more people can see it. The names are etched into eight stainless steel panels, which are arranged in a circle.
“You really have to see this memorial up close to get the full impact of it,” says Frank Smart, local Veteran activist who is heading up the visitation. “The names are stunning to say the least, but there is also some information about local men and women on the panels which is very moving.”
One of the panels features a quote by the late Sgt. Bobby Rapp. The memorial was designed by Fred White, a retired computer software designer in Manteca.
The memorial will be in the parking lot area near the former Mervyns store.
Written by bjhansen@mlode.com.
This post was last modified on 05/26/2009 2:25 pm