Honoring All our Veterans: A place to pay tribute, a place to pray for peace
Park opens at about 8:30AM and closes seasonally at about dusk.
“This project will pay homage to all families whose husbands, wives, sons, and daughters have given the ultimate sacrifice. And it is also a chance to honor those still living or who survived their war years. This is our moment, our time to honor these men and women, living or dead, who have given all of us the freedoms and liberties that so many Americans enjoy each day. This project is important to me, important to my community, and important to our men and women in service. Please join us.”
Mayor Mark A. Bunte
Dedication Ceremony: Memorial Day, May 27, 2013
This Veterans Memorial is designed to pay tribute to everyone who has worn a uniform with pride and dignity: anyone who is currently serving our great country, anyone who has served in the past during war or peace time, and anyone who survived conflict or perished in it. In short, anyone from anywhere who has signed up for service in any of the military branches at any time can find a place in this Memorial. Anyone wishing to honor a family member, friend, mentor, or colleague who is serving or has served is welcome to add that person’s name to the wall, the pavers, and the catalog of heroes.
The vision of this Memorial Park includes more than strictly names on a wall. Veterans have important personal stories to tell. The data collected through this program will be included in a searchable database on the internet for those pursuing genealogical information and for those interested in veterans’ lives. The Friends of the Veterans Memorial Park, a completely volunteer group, is working with the community to get living veterans to tell their stories. A special project for this organization is to work with teachers and students at each of the schools to research the background of their own family members as well as other figures in the database. StoryCorps, a program with the National Library of Congress, came to Bastrop County in the summer of 2010 and gathered 24 stories that will become part of our Smithville Public Library as well. This project is a venue for strengthening education and training programs that stress historical research. The database created through these efforts will truly serve to help people understand history and their family’s part in it.
Donations are greatly appreciated for the upkeep of the Park and to continue to add names of our veterans into the future.
Donations over $100 include a paver that can be inscribed with a service member's name.
Family plaques, for up to 12 family names, will be posted for donations of $350, with extra lines for $30 each.
Please contact the Partners of the Memorial Park if you are interested in donating to the Park.
The "Partners" group is registered as a nonprofit in the state of Texas. It does not have its 501c3 status yet, and so contributions are not tax deductible at this time. Thank you.
