Veterans Start Work on Long-Sought Memorial
In a struggle that has lasted longer than some wars, a group of Hawthorne veterans finally broke ground during the weekend on an armed services memorial.
For the last five years, the Hawthorne Veterans Council has held garage sales and raffles, cashed in empty aluminum cans and charged a quarter a scoop for food at fund-raising suppers to raise money for the project .
Despite the groundbreaking, the veterans council cannot declare victory yet. During the next six months, the group will use about $31,000 to install flagpoles and concrete slabs at the memorial site outside Hawthorne Memorial Center. The grand monument the veterans have in mind will have to wait.
“We don’t have enough to complete the thing like we want to,” said Ben Ainsworth, a member of the veterans council.
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