Eagle Scout Candidate Plans Vietnam Memorial

The long awaited goal of a Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Monument Park has taken a step closer to reality with a local Eagle Scout candidate announcing plans to undertake the project.

Luke Gibbons, a scout with Troop 73, told the Town Council Tuesday night that his Eagle Scout project will be to create a memorial to local residents who died during the Vietnam War in the park at the intersection of Broad Street and North Avenue. The town currently has a small memorial in the form of a plaque at the Memorial Pool but no memorial has been built alongside the memorials to town residents who died in other wars.

"I want to create a monument for all of the men who died in Vietnam," Gibbons said.

Gibbons said his proposal is for a monument carved into the hillside in the form of two black granite blocks sitting in a triangle with the names engraved. The monument is being designed to be a small scale version of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington. The area will also contain two to three flagpoles.

In additiont to the physical memorial, Gibbons is planning a history project for the community on the Vietnam era. He said his father, Keith, is assisting him in collecting background material on all of the Westfield men who died in the war and putting together a history program on them that can be kept in Memorial Library. The project will contain information from Westfield High School yearbooks and oral history accounts from family and friends of those who died. Gibbons said it is possible that a small documentary can be developed on the subject.

Gibbons is still working on the financing of the project, but said the fundraising effort looks good.

The project is a long awaited part of the community, with veterans groups announcing each Memorial Day that a Vietnam Memorial is needed for the park. Town officials said they were supportive of the project and gave Gibbons the go ahead to move forward.

"I think this is a great project," Councilwoman Vicki Kimmins said.