Brownwood News – The efforts to rebuild the Central Texas Veterans Memorial are well underway with the community rallying to help. Four of the large stone memorials at the park across the street from Brownwood Regional Medical Center were toppled this weekend. Whether the stones fell due to high winds or criminal activity has yet to be fully resolved.
An official GoFundMe Account has been established to raise funds to rebuild. If anyone would like to donate online, you can do so at: gofundme.com/CTVMrepair
According to a recent Facebook post, KOXE news received information from local business owners regarding individuals going from business to business asking for donations for the Central Texas Veterans Memorial in the form of cash and/or Amazon gift cards. This is not an approved form of fundraising for the memorial and most likely a scam. Anyone with information about this unauthorized attempt to collect money is advised to contact the Brownwood Police Department.
Donations can be made at a fundraiser to be held this Saturday at Weakley-Watson Hardware or by sending a check to the Central Texas Veterans Memorial at:
Central Texas Veterans Memorial
C/O CNB
PO Box 1629
Brownwood, TX. 76804
A Memorial Day service will still be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, May 28th, at the Central Texas Veterans Memorial. May 28th is the 100 year anniversary of the battle of Cantigny, which was the first battle fought by the American expeditionary force in World War I. The outcome of that battle is regarded as the first American victory during the war. The Central Texas Veterans Memorial has been honored as an “Official World War I Centennial Memorial” by the United States World War I Centennial Commission.
The damage at the memorial park was discovered by President of the Memorial, Harold Steiber, on Sunday morning.
“I found it at 8 a.m. Sunday morning when I came to work on the (recently acquired Vietnam UH-1 Medi-vac) helicopter, and my power tools wouldn’t work,” Steiber said. “The breaker is just behind one of the (monuments) and after I flipped it, I looked up and saw what had happened.”
The downed granite memorial monuments paid tribute to the men from Brown County who fought in World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam, as well as the Infantry Division that called Camp Bowie home during WWII.
The estimated damage done to the memorial is close to $40,000. Assistant Brownwood Police Chief James Fuller, who was in training today with Chief Terry Nichols, said that weekend’s weather could be the cause for the toppled monuments. Damage around town included power outages and several large downed trees.
Col. Tom Gray, who also volunteers at the memorial, says it was not an accident.
“The engineers say no way it was wind, not with the amount of tonnage we are dealing with here,” Gray continued “It must’ve been some big old boys, more than one for sure to knock those down.”
