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‘All wars’ veteran memorial coming to Weber County with $25,000 price tag

By Deborah Wilber - | Feb 11, 2022

Deborah Wilber, Standard-Examiner

Barbara Beck stands in front of the prisoner of war/missing in action table at the American Legion Ogden Post 9 located at 845 W 24th St. on Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022.

OGDEN — The George E. Wahlen Veterans Home will soon be the site of the only “all wars” memorial in Weber County honoring all veterans of all branches in all wars.

“I want this to represent everybody,” said Terry Schow, chairman of the Weber County Veterans Advisory Committee.

The committee determined there was a need for a memorial representing those who served their country in every war throughout America’s history.

Five 11-foot towers, each one representing a U.S. military branch of service, are scheduled to be dedicated on Memorial Day.

The monument’s design is complete and currently being constructed by Mark H. Bott Co. in Ogden, one the oldest monument companies in the state, for $25,000.

Image supplied, Weber County Veterans Advisory Committee

A rendering of the Weber County Veteran Memorial being constructed by Mark H. Bott Co. in Ogden. The memorial will be placed at the George E. Wahlen Ogden Veterans Home on Memorial Day.

Through an annual golf tournament held by the Weber County Commission, the veterans committee paid $15,000 to Bott for the granite memorial. The organization, however, is still seeking help to pay the remaining balance.

Schow said veteran organizations are always ready to help, but they want to reach out to the public as well. The Tribute Tower at the veterans home in Ogden cost $250,000, much of which came from private donations, according to Schow.

Any donations for the new Weber County memorial will be accepted by the Weber County Commission office, located at 2380 Washington Blvd., Suite 360.

“I don’t think we have enough of them,” Air Force veteran Barbara Beck said of commemorative displays like the one soon to be erected. She is bothered by today’s atmosphere, saying veterans are not being honored and respected the way they used to be.

Beck, born and raised in Mississippi, joined the service when she ran out of money after two years of attending college as a music major. She said she spent more than eight years as a medic during Vietnam.

“I loved every cotton-picking moment of it,” she said.

Subject to military rules regarding physical disabilities at the time, Beck was medically discharged in 1972. She went on to finish night classes at a local law school she started while in the military and was later appointed to the California Superior Court.

Upon retiring as a judge in 2011, Beck said she had a choice to return to the heat and humidity in Mississippi, but she chose the beautiful mountains of Ogden instead.

Beck is one of two women in the American Legion Ogden Post 9 who are “very active” in the organization.

She said everything should done to honor, respect and appreciate what the military does for their country.

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