By By SPIROS GALLOS / Niles Daily Star
NILES - Hundreds turned out to witness the unveiling and dedication of the Veterans Memorial in Riverfront Park Sunday.
Veterans from World War II up to the current conflict in Iraq, many in full military dress, crowded Riverfront Park between the memorial and the pavilion to hear the guest speakers and see the unveiling.
Veterans Memorial Committee co-chair Mike Ellis began the event welcoming all those in attendance.
The Rev. Fred Smith of Niles led the group in prayer, thanking God for the United States and all the veterans who have served and protected it.
Veterans Memorial Committee co-chair Lou Liebetrau thanked everyone for coming to see the realization of her dream.
Liebetrau spearheaded the effort to get the memorial built more than a year ago when she wrote an article in the Niles Daily Star, expressing her desire to see a memorial built in Niles.
Niles City Manager Terry Eull commended the memorial committee for its hard work to make the memorial a reality.
During Ellis' speech, two Vietnam War era helicopters, provided by Grand Ledge Air Support of Grand Ledge, conducted a fly over of the memorial. Ray Phillips, a member of the committee and construction administrator for the University of Notre Dame, pulled the rope on the monument cover, unveiling the monument for the first time since its completion two weeks ago.
Phillips said he was unsure the unveiling would go as smoothly as it did.
Bill Wenger, Niles' only Pearl Harbor survivor, was the first of three guest speakers.
Jo Edinger, a Gold Star Mother, who lost her son, Jim, in 1967 in Vietnam, thanked Niles for erecting the memorial to serve as a reminder to all those who served the United States.
Sammy L. Davis, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, was the keynote speaker of the dedication event.
Davis, a Vietnam veteran, has been described as the original Forest Gump.
In the movie starring Tom Hanks, it was Davis' body on which Hanks' head was attached to in the scene when Gump met President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Gump's actions in the movie were loosely based on the real life actions Davis took in Vietnam which lead to his receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor.
After a moving speech, Davis played "Shenandoah" on his harmonica, a song he learned to play while in Vietnam. He played it in honor of his sergeant from Vietnam, the soldiers honored by the memorial, and for his nephew, who was killed in Iraq in October.
After the dedication, Davis expressed his feelings about the memorial.
Veterans came from near and far to attend the dedication.
Dale Deditch, 85, a World War II veteran, made the trip from his home in Carp Lake, near Mackinac City, to see the dedication. Deditch was originally from Niles and came back to also visit a sick friend in the hospital.
Harold Hipshear, 82, a World War II veteran who was part of the allied invasion of Omaha Beach, said the memorial was perfect.
Bradley Bateman, 21, a U.S. Army reservist from Berrien Springs who recently returned from a 15-month tour of duty in Kuwait and Iraq, was amazed by the memorial.
Bateman took the chance to search for commemorative bricks for his grandfather, two uncles, himself, and his friend, Sgt. Craig Frank, who died in Iraq in July.
Bateman said he was glad to be at the dedication to represent the soldiers serving abroad who were unable to attend the dedication on Sunday.