'This is a big ticket': Norwalk looking to fund $26K monument for Purple Heart recipients

Jul. 17—NORWALK — Plans for a Purple Heart monument dedicated to Norwalk residents wounded in battle reached a hurdle as the city looks for funds for the project.

The monument stalled at Wednesday's meeting of the Common Council Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs Committee. The proposal and idea were first developed by Advisory Military Veterans Liaison Committee Chair Jeff DeWitt in March, and received approval by the Arts Commission in June, as the first step in the approval process.

The project would cost the city a total of $26,500, according to a project cost estimate DeWitt received from Bates Norwalk Monument. Of the total cost, $24,000 would go toward the monument while $1,500 and $1,000 would cover the costs of the foundation and the setting, respectively.

As the committee falls under the Recreation and Parks Department, the council's Recreation Committee would need to approve the expense and aid in finding the funds, interim Recreation and Parks Director Ken Hughes said at Wednesday's meeting.

Typically, the Military and Veterans Liaison Committee uses its $5,000 annual budget to purchase flags and flowers for gravesides, coffee to offer at events and similar small expenses, Hughes said.

At nearly $30,000, the monument is the largest expense ever requested by the Military Veterans Liaison Committee, DeWitt said. For the four veterans' events hosted by the committee annually, the group receives $5,000, and never uses the entirety of the funds, he said.

"This is a big ticket, and I understand that when I consider the fact Norwalk really held no events last year, I think we haven't really done a lot with the budget we do have," DeWitt said. "I'd hate to go down a road of trying to sell bricks and have the public pay for this. It's something the city of Norwalk should own."

Councilmember and Recreation Committee Chairperson Darlene Young suggested seeing what related commissions or committees have available funds, such as the Historical or Conservation Commissions.

"As a committee we will figure out how to make this happen," Young said.

The idea first came about in August 2020 following an event where the names of each Norwalk Purple Heart recipient was read and family members of the soldiers were given the opportunity to speak about their relative.

In March, DeWitt rekindled and pursued the idea to erect a monument in the city for the Norwalk recipients, 99 of whom received the medal posthumously, he said.

The monument would honor the 120 Norwalkers who received Purple Hearts: One from World War I, 86 from World War II, 23 from the Vietnam War, eight from the Korean War, one during Operation Iraqi Freedom and one during Operation Enduring Freedom.

Of those recipients, 62 were members of the Army, 24 were members of the Army or U.S. Air Force, 19 were in the Navy, 13 in the Marines and two in the Coast Guard, DeWitt said.

The average age of a Purple Heart recipient from Norwalk was almost 25 years old, according to DeWitt.

The proposed monument in their honor would be a long marble fixture with a reflection bench placed in front it, located near the "Denial of War" statue at the Seaview Avenue entrance to Veteran's Memorial Park.

DeWitt modeled the proposed monument after the National Purple Heart Museum monument in Orange County, N.Y. It will include an image of a Purple Heart medal, logos of all the branches of service and read, "From the grateful residents of Norwalk," DeWitt said.

abigail.brone@hearstmediact.com

___

(c)2021 The Hour (Norwalk, Conn.)

Visit The Hour (Norwalk, Conn.) at www.thehour.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.