Printer Friendly Page

PARK A TRIBUTE TO KENTUCKY COUNTY'S VETERANS --

"Somebody's gotta keep the park going

or it will deteriorate."

 

 

Story here... http://www.courierpress.com/
news/2007/feb/04/park-a-tribute-to-
kentucky-countys-veterans/

Story below:

---------------

Park a tribute to Kentucky county's veterans

By GARRET MATHEWS
Courier & Press columnist
464-7527 or mathewsg@courierpress.com

CROFTON, Ky. - The neatly trimmed military park in this small Christian County community is remarkable for a place that doesn't even have 900 residents. There's a reconditioned howitzer, a picnic shelter and the names of more than 200 area veterans who served in conflicts dating back to the Civil War.

But its prime mover sees a declining interest. He worries he won't be able to raise enough money to keep it going.

"Very discouraging," David Armstrong said. "We get good attendance for our Memorial Day celebration, but the rest of the time, well, I just don't know."

The 75-year-old operated message centers in Vietnam and later in Europe before leaving the Army in 1972. After returning to Crofton, he sold insurance and worked at a mine maintenance shop.

"There wasn't anything fancy about it. I saw an empty piece of land in town and thought a war memorial would be nice. I set out to come up with the funds."

Armstrong started the North Christian Veterans Organization. He contacted churches and businesses. He enlisted his wife, Betty, to prepare enough product for a chili cook-off that's become an annual event.

"I even made a list of people around Crofton who could afford to give $100 or more and wrote letters."

Then came the tractor accident.

"I was cutting down firewood on a rainy day. The tractor heaved up and came down in my lap. My pelvis was broken and my leg caught on fire. I was trapped for a little while before they finally pulled me out. It definitely wasn't a very good day."

He spent six weeks in the hospital before undergoing a lengthy rehabilitation.

"But everything got done and we dedicated the park in 1983 about a year after I got hurt. When I start something, I stay with it."

The park is named for James

Thomas West. "He died in Korea and his body was never found. We figured he probably was the one who suffered the most and deserved the honor."

Armstrong arranged to buy the howitzer for $900 from a storage unit in Anniston, Ala. It was also his idea to have the four plaques representing service in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.

"We got the list of names mostly by word of mouth, but I knew a lot of guys who were in the Second World War."

He's had some calls from folks who want to put up a new memorial to include area men and women who weren't listed in the initial project.

"I explain that it's an expensive proposition and we'd have to come up with the money. There's only about $1,800 in the pot."

Armstrong said the North Christian Veterans group is down to only a dozen members. There were around 30 at the time of the dedication.

"The worst thing is when a vet comes to town and I tell him about the memorial. You'd think they'd all want to help, but sometimes they don't."

He still walks with a limp, a lasting vestige from the tractor mishap.

"I guess I could turn the whole thing over to the town, but it's kinda personal with me. One thing is for sure. Somebody's gotta keep the park going or it will deteriorate."

---------------

Larry Scott  --