THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 22, 1997 TAG: 9702220265
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LIZ SZABO, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 34 lines
Men and women from Chesapeake who served in the nation's armed forces may get their own memorial.
Chesapeake veterans have talked for years about building a memorial, said Wayne Sarapata, chairman of the Mayor's Committee on Veterans Affairs. Although the committee has not yet picked a design for the memorial, it has set up an account to begin raising funds.
``I don't think we necessarily need something elaborate; I don't think we necessarily want to have a guy on a horse waving a sword,'' Sarapata said. ``We just want to have a memorial for veterans and give the entire city of Chesapeake a chance to show their appreciation for what veterans have done.''
Claire R. Askew, director of the city's Parks and Recreation Department, has recommended that the memorial be erected on a 25-by-50-foot plot of grass near the flagpole in front of the civic center.
The veterans committee, a citizens advisory board, has no budget for the project and expects it to take several years to complete.
``We're really still in the infant stages,'' said Sarapata, who hopes to solicit designs for the memorial from Chesapeake high school art students.
Several Chesapeake neighborhoods have their own memorials to those who served in World War II, but there is no veterans memorial dedicated by all the citizens of Chesapeake, he said.
``This memorial would be dedicated to all veterans, whether you served in a war or not,'' Sarapata said. MEMO: The Mayor's Committee on Veterans Affairs will meet at 6:30 p.m.
Thursday in the conference room at Oscar F. Smith High School.