Soldiers' Angels Spearheads Unique Memorial for Smalltown Fallen Heroes

BASTROP, Texas, Sept. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Working closely with Smithville Mayor Mark Bunte, Soldiers' Angels is developing a unique project to honor America's fallen heroes: a memorial that will combine a children's water recreation area and a monument honoring service members who have given their all.

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It began when Patti Patton-Bader, founder of Soldiers' Angels, stood on the sidewalk in Smithville as friends and neighbors honored Sgt. Mario Rodriguez, who was killed in Afghanistan.  "Watching people of all ages, boy scouts, fire trucks and flags waving as the procession passed filled my heart," she recalled.

When Patton-Bader went home, she discovered four other fallen heroes from little Bastrop County and decided then to reach out and help the families of the fallen by doing something for children.  "It's just such a large number of soldiers to lose, per capita, from such a small area," she said. 

Patton-Bader reached out to the mayor of Smithville and found a common cause. "Mark and I agreed that doing something for the children was a wonderful way to show our appreciation and that's when he mentioned the splash park."

Though a splash park and memorial are an unusual combination, meetings with planners and families of the fallen have shown there is strong support for doing something for local children as a legacy of those who have sacrificed for America's future.

The Bastrop memorial project will focus on the last 10 years and its fallen native sons, attention and honor will be paid to veterans all the way back to World War I.  "This will be a community initiative but it will take efforts from people across the county," Bunte said. "The memorial also will encompass Bastrop, Elgin and areas across the county that have lost a soldier."

"We reach out to people who have an interest in the military, people who may have known our local fallen soldiers or their families and those who want to make a difference in their home community," said Jana Hellbusch, chairman of the Red, White and Blue Veterans of Bastrop County and an early supporter of the project.  "We'll tell people across the country who feel compassionate about fallen heroes and invite them to make a difference in Bastrop County while giving the children a cool place to play on hot days."

Soldiers' Angels is contributing the first $5,000 toward the project and is challenging Americans across the country to join the effort to provide a place that will bring both joy and education to the children for whom America's fallen heroes have sacrificed so much.

Smithville has set up a special account to receive donations through PayPal at the city website at www.ci.smithville.tx.us/Home/ City-of-Smithville-News/ Memorial-Park-Project.aspx. 

Soldiers' Angels is an award-winning 501(c)(3) with hundreds of thousands of volunteers providing aid and comfort to members of the U.S. Armed Forces, veterans and military families through a wide variety of hands-on projects and volunteerism. For more information, visit www.soldiersangels.org or call 615-676-0239.  

SOURCE Soldiers' Angels