RUMFORD — This western Maine town sports Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox statues as tourist attractions and could soon get three other attractions, albeit for more honorable reasons.
Former Town Manager Len Greaney wants to place a military Huey helicopter in Veterans Park at the end of Congress Street, along with two other memorials to honor the thousands of River Valley residents who answered their country’s call during wartime, from the Civil War to Iraq and Afghanistan.
That’s why on Nov. 18 Greaney sought permission from Rumford selectmen to convert the park into a testament of the area’s patriotism, if given three years to find funding, finish research and place the new memorials inside.
“The River Valley is one of the most patriotic regions in America,” Greaney said.
“Rumford citizens have volunteered in large numbers for each call during wartime,” he said. “Although we have honored our fallen servicemen and women, we have not yet created a war memorial for all of our residents who have served our nation.”
He said that a Veterans Committee has created an extensive database containing 8,113 River Valley veterans who have served in one or more wars, including the Civil War, World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. Of those, 3,608 are Rumford veterans.
Greaney said several Maine towns, including Lewiston, South Paris and Skowhegan, already have established war memorials.
Currently, Veterans Park is home to two new Oxford County war memorials and one Stephens High School memorial. Greaney told selectmen the high school memorial could be moved to the former secondary school’s old site, freeing up the hallowed ground to solely honor veterans.
One memorial, which was commissioned in 2000, honors veterans buried in distant places. Another recognizes Vietnam War veterans. It has a laser-generated image of a combat scene and lists 37 casualties of the war.
He proposed a new River Valley memorial that would identify the nurses and each serviceman and woman who received a POW, MIA, or Purple Heart award. It would be black granite embossed with a picture of a nurse comforting the wounded. The current plan is to commission the piece on Memorial Day 2011.
The committee would also like to create an array of separate, upright, gray granite stones identifying all Rumford veterans. Eight to 10 stones are needed, Greaney said, for names to be engraved on both sides, alphabetically, regardless of war, resulting in family surname groupings.
Each name would show the identification of service branch, war and casualty status.
The third memorial would be a military helicopter used for medical evacuation or other aircraft mounted on a pad.
Selectmen, however, could only commit to one year so as not to obligate a different board in the future. Therefore, they unanimously approved the nurses’ memorial.
Prior to placing names in granite, Greaney said significant research must be completed to verify accuracy. He said he believes the names and service records of many more nurses, POWs, Purple Heart recipients and war casualties have yet to be found.
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- River Valley-area veterans’ researcher Len Greaney of Rumford explains to Rumford selectmen last week why he’d like to find money to place three new memorials in Veterans Park, one of which is a military Huey helicopter.
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- This drawing by veterans’ researcher Len Greaney of Rumford shows his vision for placement of war memorials — current and proposed — in Veterans Park at the end of Congress Street in downtown Rumford. Selectmen on Nov. 18 approved the memorial for nurses, POW, MIA and Purple Heart recipients.
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