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During a ceremony in May, ground was broken on the site of an upcoming World War II and Korean War Memorial at 14 E. Broadway Street. 

Months later, development has continued. 

The memorial will feature a wall listing the start and end dates of both World War II and the Korean War, with pedestals showing maps and the locations of each Clark County-area veteran’s actions.

It will be framed by seven trees showing seven combined years of war, plus a flag pole lit to honor those missing in action (MIAs) and who have been prisoners of war (POWs). 

Complementing the walkway will be commemorative brick pavers, which recognize the service of living or dead veterans and those who funded the project. 

Early in the morning of Thursday, August 15, a concrete pour occurred at the location. 

“That was the first pour for the plaza. There will be a second pour…that will go around the perimeter of it,” said Chuck Witt, a Clark County Veterans Council member whose organization long advocated for the memorial project. “The remaining concrete to be poured will be the base for the sidewalk…that forms a base on which we will be laying the memorial bricks.” 

Expectations are that memorial bricks will be delivered by the end of September. 

“We’re continuing to sell the bricks. We’ve got 154 memorial bricks right now to go into the sidewalk,” Witt said. “The limestone that covers the wall and the pedestals and the flagpole base is being fabricated right now in Cincinnati.”

Also, Clark County Veterans Council, a 501(c)(3) organization, has received further funding for the project’s construction. 

Joined by others, including Winchester Mayor JoEllen Reed and City Manager Mike Flynn, the organization received a $1,000 check presented by Summit Community Bank, a division of Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Company. 

“We’re hoping now that we’ve got a $1,000 check from one of our local banks that the rest of the banks will step up as well,” he said. “We also got $250 from East Kentucky Power [Cooperative], $250 from Clark Energy [Cooperative], [and] we got a $7500 matching grant from Clark [County] Community Foundation.”

Witt estimates that the total funds available currently stand at approximately $142,000. 

Yet that’s not all. 

In the first days of September, the flagpole that will be part of the project was placed. 

“We’re going to…put the flags on it and have a light on it, and we’re going to fly the flags while construction continues,” Witt added. 

He and the Clark County Veterans Council hope for continual community support. 

“We’re still short of the funds needed to complete the project,” he said. “We’ll take any donations we can get [and] we’re still selling memorial bricks.”

The organization hopes that the project will be officially dedicated on Veterans Day, Monday, November 11. 

More information – including how to order bricks – can be found at https://www.clarkcountywarmemorial.org.