OCEANA, WV – Gov. Jim Justice presented a $26,000 check to Oceana Mayor Tom Evans and other local leaders today, that will help fund the completion of the new Wyoming County Veterans Memorial display that is currently being built in town.
The Governor awarded the grant funding during a ceremony at Oceana Town Hall.
“We’re gonna finish a memorial in Oceana that, maybe, everybody can come by and see and maybe the kids will be taught the reflection that they need to be taught: that freedom is never really free, and a lot of people paid a lot of big prices,” Gov. Justice said.
Town leaders have been working alongside their local Veterans Support Group, the Disabled American Veterans organization, and their local VFW to get the memorial project off the ground.
Parts of the memorial are already in place at their location in Oceana off of Route 10, across from Gilliland Park.
When it’s completed, the memorial will consist of black brick commemorative wall, which will stand in honor of all veterans, no matter where they are from.
The final design also includes three uprights that will be adorned with the names of the Wyoming County veterans who died in combat in the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, and the conflicts in the Middle East.
“I just can’t thank you enough for all that you’ve done and all that you do,” Gov. Justice said to the many veterans in attendance for the ceremony. “Our veterans have given us every single thing we live for.
“We owe them everything, that’s all there is to it. And anyone who doesn’t think that, shame on them.”