Throughout history patriotic Americans have been drawn together to serve a cause greater than themselves. Some came because of common experiences. Most came because of common values. All came because they shared a dream.
The people who belong to the Atascadero Veterans Memorial Foundation are such a people. They believe that the true reflection of America is her ability to honor our Veterans of the past, who have given so much that all Americans might live free. They feel the Memorial honors our military members serving today, as it represents those who stand guard between America and those who seek to destroy her. Finally, the Foundation believes the Memorial is about our future, as it will be used to teach our youth about our nation's core values and will serve as a symbol of our gratitude to those, who through their service and by their sacrifice, put their country first.
The reality of this Memorial and today's dedication is proof, that we as Americans will be forever proud of our Veterans. We honor them today, not only with words, but with this lasting tribute.
"All gave some?.some gave all"
Dedicated November 8, 2008
Faces of Freedom
November 8, 2008
Mark Greenaway, SculptorThe Faces of Freedom sculpture is a tribute to the men and women who have served in the American military. The statue is a timeline that represents the selfless service of our military since the beginning of World War I to the present.At the far right of the sculpture and "on point" is a figure that represents the modern day Marine/soldier, leading vigilant, committed. He is "joined at the hip" to a Desert Storm soldier who in turn is lending aid to a stricken Vietnam hero. Beyond and behind these figures proudly waves the American flag, emblazoned with the many faces of those men and women who have valiantly secured and protected our nation's freedoms. We are grateful that their commitment and sacrifice, like the threads of our flag, unites us all as Americans.On this side of the statue is the head of the bald eagle, part of the Great Seal of the United States. It not only signifies strength and power, but serves as a reminder of those who have given so much that we might live free.
World War I
1914-1918Europe plunged into the "Great War" following the 1914 assassination of Austria's Archduke Ferdinand in the Balkans. More than 20 countries fought in the conflict. Its brutal trench warfare led to approximately 20 million military and civilian deaths. The U.S. Congress declared war on Germany in April 1917 at the request of President Woodrow Wilson, Great Britain and France. More than one million U.S. Troops under the command of General "Blackjack" Pershing joined in breaking a stalemate and helping swing the tide of the war in favor of the entente powers, which initially consisted of Britain, France and Russia, their empires and dependencies. Over 50,000 U.S. military personnel died in WWI between April 1917 and the Armistice on 11 Nov 1918.
Manuael Souza · Peter Larsen · Ellis Ferrini · Francisco Garcia · Albert Tarwater · James Garcia · William Reeves · Manuel Ormonde · Clement Turri · Joseph Clark · James Mosher · Nelson Waterman · William Caldwell
World War II (a)
1941-1945The United States entered World War II after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941. In response to Japanese aggression and at the request of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the U.S. Congress declared war on Japan on 8 December 1941. Nazi Germany, an ally of Japan, then declared war on the United States. In response, the U.S. followed with a declaration of war on Germany leading to the total mobilization of the United States and 16 million Americans under arms. World War II was fought on five continents and resulted in about 60 million military and civilian dead, the largest loss of human life from war in human history.
Glenn Lawrence · Frank Burnett · William Souza · Loren Bubar · Angelo Bernardasci · Sammy Bilauski · Wilbert Byrne · Ray Cloud · Domingo Martinez · Edwin Bushnell · Clarence Bello · Ira Barlow · James Snodgrass · William Cashin · Robert Castro · Harry Chapek · Randolph Donalson · Paul Coffing · Richard Steele · Charles Eddy · Patrick Connolly · Raymond Dauth · David Cottle · Eulis Farris · Ramon Patterson · George Crozier · Sadami Fujita · Roy Gruwell · Raymond Farnell · Donald Griffith · Claude Newlin · James Bauer · Edward Johnson · Frank Gularte · Theodore Lee · Lester Hambly · Forest Hemstreet · Milford McAngus · William Irwin · Merle Heyd · Charles McMahan · Fredrick Gillis · Troy Lancaster · Buford Jones · Vincent Martinez · Jack Langston · Donald Laird · Dale Jones · Cornelius Norton · Basil Martinez · Richard Ojeda · Billy Ioham · Noel Nellermoe · A.J. McGovern · Eddie Mosqueda · Johnny Nicks · Harold Nankivell · James Pearson · James Righetti · James Mikel · Mervin Rodriguez · Nicholas Covell · Harry Searle · Miguel Rocha · Max Rouse · Lewis Brandt · William Everding · Joseph Crettol
World War II (b)
1941-1945The World War II battle was concentrated against Nazi Germany in Europe and Imperial Japan in the Pacific. General Dwight Eisenhower led allied forces to victory against Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany in Western Europe and North Africa with the Russians crushing the German Army in Eastern Europe. Germany surrendered to the United States and its allies on 7 May 1945. General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester Nimitz led allied ground, air, and naval forces to victory against Imperial Japan in the Pacific. Japan surrendered to the United States on 2 September 1945.
Clarence Ballagh · Benjamin Sauret · Peter Pesenti · W.H. Selvidge · Norman Pierce · Charles Wescom · Walter Stillwell · John Thomas · Francis Sullivan · Orville Tucker · Joseph McKusick · Lee Tucker · Clarence Lavelle · Albert Anderson · Robert Troy · Charles Vaca · Kenneth Wagner · Lawrence Swain · Felix Estabil · Royal Waltz · Clarence Wright · Robert Plunkett · Robert Rogers · David Vaca · David Ammaturo · Fredrick Barger · Owen Hartley · Clair Tyler · Manuel Quintana · Lincoln Williams · Laverne Dennis · William Dudy · Elwyn Righetti · Louis Gerriets · William Yates · Louis Brown · Warren Marshall · Clyde Thomason · Barry Luther · Frank Coyle · Harold Sarmento · Gerald Proctor · Edgar Williams · Wylie Wolfe · Abraham VanHorn · George Murray · Michael Doty · Billy Sutton · Robert Altamirano · Otis Kennison · Donald Tingdahl · Paul Gill · Elmer Hagerman · Kenneth Hansen · Norman Hoover · Bill Hone · Eugene Sanderson · Charles Valys · William Steve · Stanley Probst · Richard Smith · Joseph Schwagerl · Theodore Ruiz · Jack Nilsson · Charles Guilford · Alfons Lerno
The Korean War
1950-1953The Korean War started 25 June 1950 when communist North Korean forces attacked across the 38th Parallel into democratic South Korea. United Nations forces under the command of the United States responded to this unprovoked invasion by attempting to halt the spread of communism in Eastern Asia. Although Congress supported President Harry Truman's commitment of U.S. forces and the United Nations policy, the Congress did not formally declare war against North Korea. Over 50,000 U.S. servicemen gave their lives in the defense of freedom for our South Korean allies.
Louis Brodur · William Christie · Clyde Adam · Donald Ghezzi · Reginald Garcia · Johnny Dunlap · Hugh Jenkins · Martin Parlet · Joseph Thomason · Charles Romero · Daryl Rodney · Edward Pool · Francis McNeil · George Rosa · Isaac Bonifas
The Vietnam War
1957-1975<The Vietnam War lasted 18 years and became one of the most controversial wars in U.S. history. The prolonged conflict began when communist Viet Cong groups supported by North Vietnam rebelled against the democratic government of South Vietnam in 1957. The rebellion prompted Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson to invoke the Truman Doctrine and provide economic and military aid to a nation threatened by a communist takeover. The majority of U.S. troops departed South Vietnam in 1973 which led to South Vietnam's surrender to North Vietnamese forces on 30 April 1975. More than 58,000 Americans sacrificed their lives to deter communist aggression and preserve the independence of South Vietnam.
Kenneth Schwartz · Robert Fryer · Dennis Bruce · James Lee · Larry Baldwin · Curtis Cropper · Steven Amescua · Eric Bosch · Arnold Chap De Laine · Joseph Martin · Michael Miner · Roy Davis · Dennis Dieball · Alfred Quiroz · Pete Segundo · David Dyer · Richard Vaughn · Edward Schultz · Donald Lee · Jon Young · Lawrence Swarbrick · Dennis Moore · Gary Halliday · Joe Ramey · John Winningham · Robert Maguire · Terry Ratliff · John Bell · Michael Paddock · William Hansen · Mark Alford · Roy Parker · Dennis Stanley · Frank Oster · David Moreno · Lucio Reis · Kenneth Eatherly · Alvin Stallcup · Thomas Twyford · Jose Birco
The Cold War
1946-1991The Cold War resulted from a state of conflict, tension and rivalry between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. It began after the end of World War II when Soviet troops occupied Eastern Europe and Asia while forcibly imposing totalitarian communist governments in each of the countries they controlled. In 1948, the Soviets blockaded Berlin in an attempt to force out allied forces, but a U.S. airlift ended the blockade by successfully delivering food and supplies. Revolts against the Soviets in Hungary (1956) and Czechoslovakia (1968) were crushed by Soviet tanks. In 1962, tensions between the U.S. and Soviet Union peaked when the Soviets placed nuclear missiles in Cuba. President John F. Kennedy responded by establishing a naval blockade around Cuba and warned that he would regard "any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the western hemisphere as an attack on the U.S. requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union." The Cuban Missile Crisis ended two weeks later when the Soviets agreed to dismantle its missiles in exchange for a no-invasion agreement and a secret removal of U.S. missiles from Turkey. The Cold War ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. By then, the world's two superpowers had engaged in costly defense spending, a nuclear and conventional arms race and numerous proxy wars.
Laura Brown · Matthew Sturtevant · Gavin Beem · Michael Nolan · Edward Hernandez · George Dempsey
The Global War on Terror
1979 -The War On Terror began in 1979 under the presidency of Jimmy Carter when Iranian extremists occupied the U.S. embassy in Tehran and held U.S. citizens hostage for 444 days. Muslim terrorists bombed the U.S. embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon (1983), hijacked TWA Flight 847, where they tortured and murdered an American sailor (1985), hijacked the passenger ship Achille Lauro (1985), placed a bomb aboard Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland (1988), bombed the World Trade Center (1993), bombed U.S. forces at Khobar Towers in Saudia Arabia (1996), bombed U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania (1998) and executed a suicide attack on the USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden (2000). Terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 11 September 2001 killed nearly 3,000 Americans and prompted President George W. Bush to direct a U.S. military response and troops to fight in Afghanistan, Iraq and wherever terrorists might be.
Michael Mitchell · Ted Fitzhenry · Carl Seigart · Michael Sotelo · Michelangelo Mora · Brandon Parr · Justin Baldwin · Jacob Toves · Michael Mihalakis · Robert Ayres · Andrew Tyson · David Perry · Osbaldo Orozco · Duane Wolfe
The Scroll of HonorThis Scroll of Honor is dedicated to the veterans of Atascadero who served in our armed forces. Some were held in long captivity as prisoners of war or gave their lives both in peace and war in defense of the United States. This scroll is intended to recognize the sacrifices of our patriotic citizens in Atascadero who have answered the call to duty since 1913 when Atascadero became a colony. We must never forget their honor, courage, and commitment to preserve the freedoms we hold so dear.
Benney Bain · Norman Pierce · Mark Alford · Dennis Stanley · Richard Smith · Eric Bosch · Ira Barlow, Frank Oster · Mike Doty · Francis Sullivan · Gary Halliday · Dennis Moore · Paul Gill · Edgar Williams · Robert Maguire · William Hansen · Owen Hartley · Bill Yates · Michael Paddock · Terry Ratliff · Joe McKusick · Ramon Patterson · Michael Mitchell · Bill Hone · Harry Searle · Joseph Thomason · Justin Baldwin · Kenneth Eatherly · Laura Brown · Edward Hernandez · Michael Ayres · George Dempsey · Robert Ayres III
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