Courtesy of Jim Hodgson / Michael Pavlovsky
A concept drawing of the Vietnam War Veterans Memorial by Michael Pavlovsky.
After overcoming roadblocks from the pandemic, the push for a Vietnam War Veterans Memorial along Camp Bowie Boulevard has renewed strength. The project is nearing its fundraising stage, as the groups behind the memorial have settled on a design and begun talks with the Parks Department of Fort Worth.
Jim Hodgson, member of the Tarrant County Historical Commission and executive director of the Fort Worth Aviation Museum, has led the charge for the memorial for the last few years. Hodgson, a Vietnam War-era veteran himself, worked on the World War I Memorial and realized that there was no place in Tarrant County to honor those from the area who died during the Vietnam War. There were at least 220 people with ties to Tarrant County that were killed in Southeast Asia.
“These people don't deserve to be forgotten,” Hodgson says. “It's created a fabric within the community that it's not just the passing of those people, but it's the effect that it's had on the community in the lives of their families and friends and loved ones.”
In 2019, the project gathered support from several area veteran support organizations and held a design contest. Ryan Scieneaux, a student from Brewer High School, won the contest with her design of a tree with falling leaves. “The tree is supposed to envision death and rebirth as the seasons change,” Hodgson says.
The proposed design is 11 feet wide and 9 feet tall, with a multi-faceted black granite base and a cast bronze tree. The leaves of the tree will be engraved with the name, branch of service, date of death, and hometown of the fallen veterans. Around the memorial will be brick paths, park benches, and a lighting setup. As of now, the team behind the memorial plans for it to go up in Veterans Memorial Park at 4120 Camp Bowie Blvd.
Hodgson estimates that the memorial will cost approximately $150,000 to create and install. Currently, his team is selling memorial bricks to help fund efforts, and recently the Mansfield Area Marines presented Hodgson a check for $200 to support the memorial.
“The construction of [the memorial] is not going to take that long,” Hodgson says. “But it's going to require that we do the fundraising, and we're going to have to have a substantial amount of dollars before we can even start. So my guess is that if it's up in two years, we'll probably be pretty lucky.”
Learn more at vieteramemorial.org.
