By By SPIROS GALLOS / Niles Daily Star
NILES - It's been completed for just under two weeks and has been hidden under a protective cover, but Sunday, Nov. 7, the Niles Veterans Memorial monument will be unveiled for all to see.
The unveiling ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. at the memorial site in Riverfront Park.
The National Anthem will be played at the ceremony opening and two Vietnam War era helicopters will provide a fly over during the anthem.
The helicopters, provided by Grand Ledge Air Support of Grand Ledge, will then land in the northern part of the park and visitors will be able to tour the helicopters.
Keynote speakers at the ceremony will include Sammy L. Davis, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient and a Vietnam War veteran. Davis is the original Forest Gump, Ellis said.
In the movie, starring Tom Hanks, Hanks' head was placed on Davis' body in the film to create the illusion that Forest Gump was actually meeting President Lyndon B. Johnson after coming home from Vietnam.
Other speakers at the ceremony will be Bill Wenger, a Pearl Harbor survivor from Niles, and Jo Edinger, a Gold Star mother who lost her son in Vietnam.
Ellis said "maps" will be provided for visitors who wish to locate their personalized bricks, which surround the memorial monument.
After the unveiling ceremony, an open house will be held at the Niles American Legion Post, where food and punch will be served. A continuing slide show of the entire monument construction process will be available for all to see.
Although the monument was completed and covered Oct. 22, additions to the memorial keep being made.
Two black granite tablets honoring two families who provided large initial donations have been added near the base of the flag pole which United States flag will hang on.
The tablets thank Alexander and Sandra Moore, who donated $10,000, and William and Betty Alford, who donated $15,000. Those initial donations helped the memorial committee get the project up and running, Ellis said.
The last 15 personalized bricks will be set in the monument Saturday. In all, there will be 1,905 personalized bricks installed at the memorial site.
Liebetrau said the response she's received has been overwhelming.
Ellis and Liebetrau both said the memorial would never have been possible without the donations and work from businesses and individuals who donated time, materials, and labor to the project.
The co-chairs of the Veterans Memorial Committee also said the memorial could never have been built without the dedication of committee members who worked day-in and day-out on the project.
If Liebetrau has any regrets about the memorial, it's that she didn't start the effort for the memorial sooner.
Liebetrau said McLaughlin was one of her biggest supporters when she began her efforts to make the memorial a reality.