VFW Post 1440 Seeks Names for Veterans Memorial Expansion

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 19, 2018

St. Helens, Ore. - The St. Helens Oregon Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 1440 is seeking the names of all war-casualty veterans that have resided or were born in Columbia County. The McCormick Park Veterans Memorial will soon be expanded to include a new monument that will honor those by name who were lost in the Vietnam, Gulf, and all conflicts in the Middle East through the present. The VFW Post 1440 is seeking names for this expansion and the existing monument by May 31, 2018. Any names discovered after the deadline may still be included after the new monument’s installation.

To be eligible for inclusion, the veteran must have either died during conflict or passed away after returning home due to a war injury. They also must have resided or been born in Columbia County. If you or someone you know has a friend or relative who may be eligible for inclusion, please leave a message at the VFW Post 1440 telephone message center at 503-278-8473. You can also email the VFW Post 1440 at vfwpost1440@protonmail.com.

This project is made possible by the financial support of VFW Post 1440, the City of St. Helens, and private donations.

About the Expansion Project

The existing McCormick Park Veterans Memorial located in St. Helens, Oregon pays tribute to the servicemen by naming those that were killed in World War I, World War II, and Korea. Since its original dedication ceremony on November 11, 2010, there have been several increasingly popular countywide Veterans Day events held at the memorial. Often attracting state senators and house representatives to be guest speakers, the events have outgrown the space available for attendees. In April 2017, the City of St. Helens was awarded a $46,770 grant from the Oregon Parks & Recreation Veterans & War Memorials Grant Program to support the expansion project. The VFW Post 1440 is also contributing at least $40,000 to support the project. In addition to honoring Columbia County veterans who have lost their lives in more recent conflicts, the expansion will open up the memorial to accommodate several hundred spectators and provide adequate room for guest speakers. The expansion project is expected to be completed by Veterans Day 2018.

About the Original McCormick Park Veterans Monument

The VFW Post 1440 hand-built the first St. Helens Veterans Memorial, which was originally located along Highway 30 at Columbia Boulevard. It included wooden plaques with hand carved names of Columbia County war casualties from World War I, World War II, and Korea. The original wooden plaques and a 105 Howitzer Cannon were dedicated in 1958. When the Oregon Department of Transportation widened Highway 30, certain items from this memorial were moved to McCormick Park, but not the original wooden plaques.

Members of the VFW Post 1440 were very interested in finding or re-creating the lost plaques. A local engineering firm, Lower Columbia Engineering, volunteered to design and build new monuments that would be more durable replicas of the original wooden plaques.

Considerable donations and public and private in-kind contributions helped fund the project. Similar to the original project, Lower Columbia Engineering is playing an instrumental role in the design and construction management for the current expansion project. 

To inquire about inclusion in the McCormick Park Veterans Memorial Expansion, please leave a message at the VFW Post 1440 telephone message center at 503-278-8473. You can also email the VFW Post 1440 at vfwpost1440@protonmail.com.  

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For further information regarding the McCormick Park Veterans Memorial Expansion Project, please contact City of St. Helens Associate Planner Jenny Dimsho at jdimsho@ci.st-helens.or.us or 503-366-8207.