Video by Matt Haugen, WSU News
RICHLAND, Wash. “I am truly thankful to have made it home alive.”
So reads the base of “Stories,” the veterans monument unveiled this week at Washington State University Tri-Cities.
About 175 people turned out on a beautiful autumn day for the dedication of the 10-foot-high bronze sculpture, located outside the East Building. Guests included Washington First Gentleman Mike Gregoire, WSU President Elson S. Floyd, WSU Regents Scott Carson, Fran Forgette and Rafael Pruneda, representatives from federal and state veteran organizations who traveled from Olympia and Walla Walla, plus students, faculty, staff, donors, veterans and community members.“This is so overwhelming,” said Scott Dawson, co-founder and past-president of the Veterans & Allies student organization at WSU Tri-Cities. “We originally started out as a club that was about supporting veterans, keeping the common brotherhood and sisterhood, and it has grown into so many things. This monument helps solidify we’re a vet-friendly campus.”
The monument was created to set the tone that veterans and their goals for higher education are supported and that veterans are not alone.
Veterans make up 8 percent of the student body this fall at WSU Tri-Cities, which is recognized by the state Department of Veterans Affairs as a Veteran Supportive Campus and is listed as a Military-Friendly School by the national G.I. Jobs magazine.
Local artist Tom McClelland designed the bronze. It features quotes, submitted by student veterans and their loved ones, inscribed on pages being swept from a book by a dust devil. The base of the sculpture was designed and donated by Russ Johnson and Tom Black of Columbia Engineers.
Set on a grassy area with the Columbia River as a backdrop, the monument is intended to provide a place of introspection. About 10 pages offer different thoughts on military service, including:
“I am unworthy to submit my story compared to those who really fought.”
“Although he lost his life, I’m sure he never regretted his decision to enlist.”
“She had three boys and served her country in three separate tours.”
“I still pull out my old photographs, see the lines in their faces laid out just like maps.”
“He experienced the fear of driving down Iraqi roads in a Humvee, never knowing if there was an IED.”
“Farewell my beloved son, you are loved now and on into eternity.”
“When I was in high school, vets weren’t honored this way and this is right,” said Maj. Deborah Kawaguchi of the Civil Air Patrol.
The veteran student organization raised the money and in-kind donations for the sculpture, which cost about $35,000, installation and site development. Donors include Randolph Construction Services, Columbia Engineers LLC, Columbia Center Rotary Club and Ice Harbor Pub and Brewery. The site design calls for several more phases to install seating areas, sidewalks and a gazebo. More details on the project are at http://www.tricity.wsu.edu/veteransmonument.
WSU Tri-Cities was established in 1989 with upper division and graduate programs, expanding in 2007 to a four-year undergraduate campus offering 18 bachelor’s, 10 master’s and six doctoral degree programs. Learn about the most diverse campus in the WSU system at http://www.tricity.wsu.edu