N.C. Gulf War memorial project stalled
By GARY D. ROBERTSON - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Feb 28, 2008 21:53:54 EST

RALEIGH, N.C. — A member of a state panel charged with building a memorial for Persian Gulf War veterans submitted his resignation Thursday, frustrated with the pace of a project conceived after the war ended in 1991.

“Basically, it’s a protest,” said Michael Chapman of Marshville, a longtime member of the Persian Gulf War Memorial Commission.

Chapman helped get the government of Kuwait to give $100,000 toward a memorial a decade ago. But the money still sits in the state’s coffers.

The monument, which already has been designed for a location in Raleigh, will cost as much as $500,000, according to officials. Public and private efforts to raise the remainder of the money haven’t been fruitful, while the panel has met intermittently over the years.

“How many years do we have to wait to honor those who fight in a war?” said Chapman, whose brother, Christopher, was one of 16 North Carolina-based service members state officials say were killed in the combat zone. “Seventeen years is ridiculous.”

Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990. A U.S.-led coalition forced Iraq out in January and February 1991 in Operation Desert Storm. A cease-fire ended the battle 17 years ago Thursday, on Feb. 28, 1991. About 110,000 military members stationed and living in North Carolina served in the combat area, according to the state Division of Veterans Affairs.

The commission chose a model designed by a group of graduate students at N.C. State University that will be installed on the Halifax Mall, behind the Legislative Building.

Plans call for five columns, all at least 2 feet in diameter, made by bronze casting on a black marble base, according to a Web site for the memorial. One center column will be 8 feet tall, with the surrounding columns 7 feet each.

“We’ve got the design. We’re ready to do something,” said Charlie Smith, director of the Division of Veterans Affairs since 1989. But additional money is needed to actually build the project.

Several House members filed a bill last year asking the General Assembly to give $400,000 toward the project. The appropriation didn’t make the state budget, but the bill can still be considered when the Legislature reconvenes in May.

Smith points out that a Vietnam War memorial on the old Capitol grounds was paid for with both state money and private donations.

“We really haven’t had any grass-roots help from the Gulf War veterans themselves,” Smith said.

Chapman held media events Thursday in Charlotte and in Raleigh, where he said he turned in his resignation to Easley. Easley spokesman Seth Effron said he hadn’t seen the resignation letter late Thursday.

Ellie