Florence gives veterans a lasting ‘thank you’

FLORENCE — Veterans Day is always a time to honor those who have served the country. The city of Florence, however, has given veterans a perpetual and monumental “thank you” with the dedication of its newest park.

A crowd of thousands from throughout the Pee Dee looked on Tuesday as the city dedicated its Veterans Park.

“This is a culmination of the work of many people who put in many, many hard hours,” Florence Mayor Frank Willis told the crowd Tuesday. “But I think I can safely say it was a labor of love.”

The event’s keynote speaker was Charles F. Bolden Jr., a Columbia native and retired Marine major general who flew on four space shuttle missions in the 1980s.

Bolden acknowledged the speech was going to be a teary one for him to make.

“This is a time to remember that patriotism has no party, no race, no creed, no color,” he told the crowd in a voice strained with emotion.

The city also unveiled the bronzed eagle sculpture atop three 24-foot-tall pillars and revealed the park’s Wall of Honor displaying veterans’ names.

As a token of appreciation, the city has placed Bolden’s name on the wall, Willis said.

Seeing the finished sculpture was the high point of the event for Carlton Pridgen, 83, a retired Marine Corps sergeant major who served in World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam.

Pridgen said he served on the original Veterans Park committee and that he appreciated the entire ceremony.

“I think it went off real good, and I think it’s something that we should have had a long time ago,” he said.

The eagle sculpture was created by Florence resident Alex Palkovich.

“For me, it has an additional emotional side — both my father and father-in-law were liberated from the Mauthausen concentration camp (in Austria) by Americans,” he told the crowd.

The eagle represents the United States and the snake in its talons represents the country’s enemies, Palkovich said.

The space between the three pillars is a “meditation chamber, where you can become a part of the sculpture and all it represents,” Palkovich said.

Veterans Park Committee Chairman Rick Walden recognized the veterans and their loved ones at Tuesday’s ceremony.

“We owe those men and women not just a debt of gratitude, but a great debt of gratitude,” he said.

The Veterans Park is worth $4 million, including the $900,000 land donation for the site by former U.S. Rep. Ed Young and the Byrd estate.

“They gave us the perfect location at the perfect price — free,” Willis said.

The park is being financed mostly through the city’s hospitality tax collections.

The initiative for the park began in 2003, when Willis led a meeting attended by nearly 10 local veterans.

The park was built by FBi Construction, while Hatchell Landscape Inc. performed landscaping and irrigation and Brown Memorials is placing tiles on the Wall of Honor.

Wall of Honor

Tiles on the Florence Veteran’s Park Wall of Honor are for sale in honor or memory of veterans. The 4-by-9-inch tiles cost $250 to $325 each, and proceeds will be used in building the park.

To buy a memorial, call the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce at (843) 665-0515 or Brown Memorials at (843) 662-6378.