Public donations still needed to retire costs

Joseph Back

“Today we are here to remembers the sacrifices and contributions of Americans to ensure our freedom and our way of life,” Stanley-Boyd High School social studies teacher Bob Seidl said in a dedication ceremony for a statue November 11 at the Veteran’s Memorial in downtown Stanley, which he noted was originally called Legion Park and dedicated a year after World War I.

Observing Veteran’s Day at Soo Line Park on the eleventh day of the eleventh month at the eleventh hour of the day, an assortment of local veterans, students, and residents gathered in Soo Line Park in downtown Stanley, Wisconsin to pay tribute to the sacrifices made by area veterans in the many wars called to serve in, from World War II through Korea and Vietnam to Desert Storm and Operation Enduring Freedom in Iraq, among others. After the dedication ceremony at the Veteran’s Memorial in Soo Park, local veterans were treated to a meal and showing of “Flags of Our Fathers” at the Stanley Theater on North Broadway. Stanley-Boyd social studies teacher and local alum Bob Seidl gave the remarks at the dedication ceremony.

“I’d like to thank everybody for coming,” he said, “veterans and nonveterans who are here to dedicate this statue.” With a prayer being offered by Legion member Ed Staib and a gun salute to the east by American Legion Post 112 as commanded by Bruce Wozniak, both the area around the World War I seacoast gun at the Veteran’s Memorial and the rail side bank parking lot across Broadway were filled with members of the public and students come to help commemorate the day. Originally dedicated Saturday, May 30, 1931 by Victory Post No. 112 for its present site, the large artillery piece pointed northwest was originally used as a seacoast defensive installation during World War I, from which Veteran’s Day got its start. Memorial Day in May was originally known as Decoration Day and began in the years after North and South fought each other in a destructive U. S. Civil War.

Photo by Jospeh Back. “Today we basically celebrate and commemorate the dead and the living,” Seidl said in his remark, whether veterans of past wars or generally. Acknowledging that his remarks as a social studies teacher included comments from Presidents Kennedy and Reagan, Seidl asked those present to pause for a moment of silence in honor of those who have served or passed on.

“If you could right now, we’d just like to pause for all of our veterans who have served and those who have passed on and are not able to be with us here today,” he said, then continuing with his remarks once the moment of silence had ended.

“Today we are here to remembers the sacrifices and contributions of Americans to ensure our freedom and our way of life,” the local social studies teacher said. “men died to basically possess a few feet of ground: a cornfield, a rocky hill, almost nothing at all. But they died so that we could go on and fulfill the hopes of our fathers,” he went on. “That we live in this democracy and we like our values and our way of life…So we made today a quiet commemoration, a day basically of peace” he said. “A day so that we can honor those who have served their country, both living and dead. We gather today to honor those who make our freedom possible.”

“World War I was a war to end all wars,” Seidl said of the destructiveness and hopes of war’s abolition in the aftermath of a fight nobody could agree on the reason for. “And we hoped to express at the end of that war that we would never have another conflict. Of course 20 years later we ended up having World War II, which was twice as bad,” he said. “So the hopes that we had at the end of World War I were not really fulfilled.” Since that time the capacity of mankind to live in peace had occassionally been overcome by less peaceful impulses, and weapons.

“It’s a tragic fact that we have not ended all wars, and we need veterans to protect and serve this country.” The purpose of all wars, was to establish peace,” Seidl said, noting that he thanked veterans when he saw them, regardless of their politics or other factors.

“The peace we enjoy, comes at a cost,” he said, saying that the statue was meant to remind those driving by of veteran’s dedication. Seidl then asked for Legion Post 112 Commander Bruce Wozniak to come up, who oversaw the unveiling of the statue from beneath a plastic covering meant to protect it from the frost prior to dedication.

“Members of Post 112 of the American Legion, VFW Post 2711 and Post 326 of the American Legion, as well as other veterans,” Wozniak began. “We are here to dedicate this statue of a soldier kneeling in honor of his departed comrade. A fitting memorial to all veterans,” Wozniak went on, thanking the Stanley-Boyd schools and community for their support and calling for a rededication to the “sacred ideals” that the statue represented.

But while the statue of a kneeling soldier is now in place and the dedication ceremonies have been completed for the new statue at the Soo Park Veteran’s Memorial in Stanley, financial costs still remain. With current fundraising for the statue covering just over a third of the $6,000 cost, a link entitled “VETERANS DONATION” in the lower right corner of the Stanley-Boyd district homepage at www.stanleyboyd.k12.wi.us directs those who may wish to donate to the statue cost to its fundraising page at the Might Cause website. A full 100 percent of the donations made toward the statue will go toward costs related to the worthy cause. This beautiful piece of art and sculpture enriches the landscape at the Soo Park Veteran’s Memorial and will leave a lasting tribute to those who fought for American freedoms. Those with questions related to the now-installed statue or ongoing fundraiser may also contact teacher Bob Seidl at 715-644-5534, ext. 148.