SHELBY — Two Shelby veterans are leading the charge to help preserve local United States military monuments and memorials.
Councilmen Steve McLaughlin and Nathan Martin have watched Shelby’s World War II monument, located in the heart of the city, deteriorate — and the process isn’t slowing down.
The monument consists of a plaque, which names the 29 Shelby veterans who died fighting for their country, and two World War II-era cannons — which have been located downtown since approximately 1950.
During Monday’s council meeting, McLaughlin said he and Martin recently began working with the Shelby American Legion — known as O’Brien Post #326 — and Ralph Phillips VFW Post 291 to research and raise funds to restore the deteriorating plaque.
Through this process, McLaughlin said it’s been questioned if there is a better location for the monument — and its cannons — to be displayed.
He said one area which may be a better fit for the monument would be the city’s flag park, found on the corner of West Main and Washington streets — just across the road from its current location.
The flag park currently consists of flags representing branches of the U.S. military, as well as a few monuments.
“It’s (flag park) a possible location to locate the cannons there and create a few more monuments,” McLaughlin said.
He specifically mentioned the possibility of creating monuments for those from Shelby who died fighting in the Civil War and World War I.
The possibility of creating an ad hoc (temporary) committee emerged as an idea to help guide this process as it develops, McLaughlin said.
City Council elected to do just that, unanimously approving the establishment of a monuments committee with McLaughlin as chairman and Martin a member.
Input from Shelby veterans, residents a priority
Martin said the need to upkeep U.S. military monuments and memorials in Shelby is evident.
“The only thing worse than not representing somebody with a memorial is to have a memorial that is falling apart,” he said.
Martin and McLaughlin both felt it was the appropriate time to bring the conversation to council and involve the city with the planning moving forward.
“I don’t think City Council should relinquish its oversight of the movement of some of these things that are being discussed,” Martin said. “Whether it’s the cannons, the Vietnam memorial, the World War II memorial or even the flag memorial that is over what was old Skiles Field and its placement.”
He added that McLaughlin has spent a lot of time over the past one to two months speaking with different veterans groups.
Both councilmen also said they value the input and opinions of Shelby veterans and the public — something the monuments committee will create space for.
McLaughlin added that he wants to make sure the public is aware and involved with the possibilities being considered.
Councilman Eric Cutlip agreed with McLaughlin and Martin and supported the formation of the committee.
“As much input as possible is good,” Cutlip said.