The Preston County, West Virginia,
Vietnam Veterans Memorial

BY JENIFFER GRAHAM

On Memorial Day 2021 several hundred people gathered on the county courthouse lawn in Kingwood, West Virginia, for the dedication of the Preston County Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The ceremony was hosted by Preston County, West Virginia, Chapter 977. The memorial honors all who served during the Vietnam War and includes a mural of Vietnam War scenes, emblems of the service branches that took part in the war, and VVA’s logo and Founding Principle: “Never Again Will One Generation of Veterans Abandon Another”

In December 2020, Chapter 977 petitioned the Preston County Commission to place the memorial on the courthouse lawn. Chapter members Jim Savage and William Benson told the commissioners that the chapter had worked for more than six years to make the memorial a reality. Funding for the project came from money raised by the chapter and donations from the public. Chapter 977 holds three 50-50 raffles a year to raise funds for its projects.

The 5-foot-by-8-foot, 4,888-pound, three-piece black marble memorial cost $19,700, plus $3,500 for delivery and set up. The concrete base is 40 inches deep, 102 inches long, and 14 inches wide.

Jennifer Field of Field Funeral Home in Masontown was one of the biggest backers of the memorial. “Field Funeral Home was honored to work with the VVA Chapter 977 veterans to have a memorial placed at the Preston County Courthouse to honor all those who served and some that paid the ultimate price for our country during the Vietnam War,” she said. “The memorial is a place where future generations can pay their respects and veterans can visit to share experiences or just stand or sit alone to ponder thoughts they can never share with anyone.”

Chapter 977 “came to us and had a vision of what they wanted,” Field said. “With a rough sketch of the size and shape of memorial, I started to bring their vision to reality. All of the veterans gave us ideas of items to add to the mural to make it a true-to-life image of what they saw during their service in Vietnam. After a few tries and changes, the final design was unanimously approved. The granite was ordered and then the etching process began.”

Other contributors included two local VFW posts—Aurora-Terra Alta and Tunnelton. Donations are still being accepted at VVA Chapter 977, P.O. Box 803, Masontown, WV 26542.

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