thedrifter
07-02-07, 07:10 AM
Navy wife, widow push for military spouse memorial
By Karen Jowers - kjowers@militarytimes.com
Posted : July 09, 2007
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The idea of a monument to military spouses came to Nicole Alcorn somewhere in Alabama, on the road between Florida and Virginia Beach.
“The stars just lined up,” she said.
Alcorn, her friend Karie Darga and their two toddler girls were returning from a memorial service at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., in April for fallen explosive ordnance disposal technicians.
At that service, the name of Darga’s husband, Navy EOD Chief Paul Darga, killed in Iraq on Aug. 22, 2006, was placed on the wall.
“My husband and I stood in the back of the memorial service and watched all these women receive flags,” said Alcorn, whose husband is an EOD officer now deployed to Bahrain.
The memorial service inspired Alcorn. As they drove back to Virginia Beach, she thought of those women, of her own mother — a Marine widow — and of other military spouses. She and Darga, who first met when their husbands deployed together, started brainstorming the idea of a military spouse memorial.
“At first, I was thinking, ‘Yeah, somebody needs to do that,’” Darga said. “Then I said, ‘If I want to recognize the other widows, then I need to have a say in this.’”
Since then, the two have been going full speed. They met with Rep. Thelma Drake, R-Va., who was impressed with their energy and their plan. She plans to introduce a bill in Congress after the July 4 recess that would authorize the monument to be built on government property.
“What a remarkable idea,” Drake said. “Not to honor themselves, but spouses back to the Revolutionary War. And in Karie’s loss, for her to say she wants to honor World War II widows, it’s remarkable.”
Alcorn and Darga “will knock your socks off when people see how determined they are,” Drake said. “And we’re very determined to help them.”
She said she and her staff are working behind the scenes and have talked to the National Capital Planning Commission.
If the bill is passed, Alcorn and Darga will begin fund-raising. The cost of the monument will depend on the design.
If it doesn’t pass? “We’ll start over. We’ll regroup,” Alcorn said. “All we’re asking is permission to build on government property.”
Darga said the pressures on military spouses right now highlight the need for such a monument. “It’s right, and it’s time,” she said. “With the war going on, families are exhausted. They are spent, and they’re losing heart, because they feel all they’re doing is giving and giving. Now, it’s time to recognize all that giving, and let them know it’s not for no reason, that they are appreciated, and generations before them are appreciated.”
Alcorn and Darga want to honor spouses from 1776 to the present, from all branches of service, to include the reserve components, male and female spouses and all ethnic groups.
They have named their vision “Two Faces of Courage,” a sculpture of two spouses standing back to back. One spouse’s face will reflect the happiest times, the other the most devastating.
“The faces will say it all,” Darga said.
One represents the military spouse with her children, excited and carrying a welcome home banner. “She’s just seen her husband step off the plane or the ship � that first instant when you’re so relieved,” she said.
“The other is a military widow, clutching a folded American flag in her arm, facing straight ahead, eyes toward heaven, with one tear on her cheek. A preteen son � is trying to comfort her. Her hand is on a toddler’s head. The toddler looks hurt and confused. But her face is one of courage and determination, that � she’ll find a way.”
The two said they would like the widow to be facing Arlington Cemetery. They are eyeing a particular site, but declined to specify the location this early in the process.
An educational area adjacent to the monument would depict the typical military spouse through each era in history, as well as stories about some exceptional spouses of their eras.
“We want spouses from prior generations to share their stories,” Darga said. Their plan is to set up a Web site to collect stories from or about military spouses.
The two friends are putting the word out to anyone who wants to honor a military spouse to call or write to their representatives and senators in Congress asking for their support of the bill after Drake introduces it.
Darga can be reached at karie@militaryspousemonument.org and Alcorn at nicole@militaryspousemonument.org.
Ellie
By Karen Jowers - kjowers@militarytimes.com
Posted : July 09, 2007
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The idea of a monument to military spouses came to Nicole Alcorn somewhere in Alabama, on the road between Florida and Virginia Beach.
“The stars just lined up,” she said.
Alcorn, her friend Karie Darga and their two toddler girls were returning from a memorial service at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., in April for fallen explosive ordnance disposal technicians.
At that service, the name of Darga’s husband, Navy EOD Chief Paul Darga, killed in Iraq on Aug. 22, 2006, was placed on the wall.
“My husband and I stood in the back of the memorial service and watched all these women receive flags,” said Alcorn, whose husband is an EOD officer now deployed to Bahrain.
The memorial service inspired Alcorn. As they drove back to Virginia Beach, she thought of those women, of her own mother — a Marine widow — and of other military spouses. She and Darga, who first met when their husbands deployed together, started brainstorming the idea of a military spouse memorial.
“At first, I was thinking, ‘Yeah, somebody needs to do that,’” Darga said. “Then I said, ‘If I want to recognize the other widows, then I need to have a say in this.’”
Since then, the two have been going full speed. They met with Rep. Thelma Drake, R-Va., who was impressed with their energy and their plan. She plans to introduce a bill in Congress after the July 4 recess that would authorize the monument to be built on government property.
“What a remarkable idea,” Drake said. “Not to honor themselves, but spouses back to the Revolutionary War. And in Karie’s loss, for her to say she wants to honor World War II widows, it’s remarkable.”
Alcorn and Darga “will knock your socks off when people see how determined they are,” Drake said. “And we’re very determined to help them.”
She said she and her staff are working behind the scenes and have talked to the National Capital Planning Commission.
If the bill is passed, Alcorn and Darga will begin fund-raising. The cost of the monument will depend on the design.
If it doesn’t pass? “We’ll start over. We’ll regroup,” Alcorn said. “All we’re asking is permission to build on government property.”
Darga said the pressures on military spouses right now highlight the need for such a monument. “It’s right, and it’s time,” she said. “With the war going on, families are exhausted. They are spent, and they’re losing heart, because they feel all they’re doing is giving and giving. Now, it’s time to recognize all that giving, and let them know it’s not for no reason, that they are appreciated, and generations before them are appreciated.”
Alcorn and Darga want to honor spouses from 1776 to the present, from all branches of service, to include the reserve components, male and female spouses and all ethnic groups.
They have named their vision “Two Faces of Courage,” a sculpture of two spouses standing back to back. One spouse’s face will reflect the happiest times, the other the most devastating.
“The faces will say it all,” Darga said.
One represents the military spouse with her children, excited and carrying a welcome home banner. “She’s just seen her husband step off the plane or the ship � that first instant when you’re so relieved,” she said.
“The other is a military widow, clutching a folded American flag in her arm, facing straight ahead, eyes toward heaven, with one tear on her cheek. A preteen son � is trying to comfort her. Her hand is on a toddler’s head. The toddler looks hurt and confused. But her face is one of courage and determination, that � she’ll find a way.”
The two said they would like the widow to be facing Arlington Cemetery. They are eyeing a particular site, but declined to specify the location this early in the process.
An educational area adjacent to the monument would depict the typical military spouse through each era in history, as well as stories about some exceptional spouses of their eras.
“We want spouses from prior generations to share their stories,” Darga said. Their plan is to set up a Web site to collect stories from or about military spouses.
The two friends are putting the word out to anyone who wants to honor a military spouse to call or write to their representatives and senators in Congress asking for their support of the bill after Drake introduces it.
Darga can be reached at karie@militaryspousemonument.org and Alcorn at nicole@militaryspousemonument.org.
Ellie