The Marshall County Area Veterans Memorial Park (MCAVMP) was awarded a grant by Warren Area Community Fund to support the addition of a statue featuring a bronze veteran with a dog. The statue is expected to be installed this year.
The MCAVMP is located on the Marshall County Courthouse grounds in Warren. Both the MCAVMP and the Warren Area Community Fund are funds in the family of funds at Northwest Minnesota Foundation. The community fund is one of about two dozen community funds at NMF and the MCAVMP is a project fund.
According to Susan Peterson with MCAVMP, writing in a final grant report to the Warren Area Community Fund, the new statue is expected to arrive and be set in place later this year. The goal of this specific addition is to raise awareness of post-traumatic stress disorder which affects many veterans in the U.S. At the same time, it gives the public an opportunity to learn and understand what our veterans are experiencing.
In addition to the bronze sculpture, a new bench was also added, through this funding. On the bench, there is a quote from the late American actor and WWII soldier Audie Murphy who suffered from insomnia and depression: “I want company, and I want to be alone. I want to talk, and I want to be silent. I want to sit, and I want to walk”.
The bench has already arrived and has been set in place. Susan reported that the veterans memorial park board hopes that visitors will learn more about the veterans who have PTSD once they see the statue and read the words on the bench.
“The bench, the soldier and the dog are the beginning of understanding,” she wrote.
The MCAVMP is a place set aside for honor, remembrance, and reflection, but has also offered more opportunities for visitors to learn more online. On its website, there are interviews of veterans who had been involved in military conflicts sharing their war stories.
“There are many resources to learn more to understand what a loved one is feeling or to get the help the veteran may need through the resources that are available,” Susan wrote.
You can visit Marshall County Area Veterans Memorial Park website HERE.
To donate to the support either the Marshall County Area Veterans Memorial Park or the Warren Area Community Fund, visit https://nwmf.org/donors-giving/find-a-fund/
