Members of the Bartholomew County Veterans Honor Guard will provide a gun salute at the dedication of a veterans memorial Nov. 10 at Four Seasons Retirement Center in Columbus.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
The dedication of a new veterans memorial will be just one of a number of highlights in Columbus leading up to the Veterans Day.
Four Seasons Retirement Center, 1901 Taylor Road, Columbus, has recently completed its new memorial featuring a wall displaying medallions that represent the five military branches.
Located under the trees north of the chapel, the memorial also has bricks bearing the names of approximately 30 veterans. They also display each former military member’s branch of service and years served.
The memorial will be formally dedicated one day before Veterans Day, on Thursday, Nov. 10. The 2 p.m. ceremony will feature the Bartholomew County Veterans Honor Guard, who will provide a gun salute and play taps.
Several veterans who live at Four Seasons and have bricks in the new memorial will attend the ceremony, according to a news release. For those who plan to attend, parking will be near the flagpole.
A foundation established by BHI Senior Living of Indianapolis, the company that built Four Seasons in 1967, underwrote the costs for the memorial, a news release states. The BHI Foundation is perhaps best known for providing lifelong care for residents who, through no fault of their own, are no longer able to meet their monthly living expenses.
BHI is also developing the 40-acre Athens Crossing senior living community near the junction of Talley and Rocky Ford roads. In total, the company has seven care facilities located throughout the Midwest.
Operation Green Light
During the week leading up to Veterans Day, those traveling at night through downtown Columbus will see both the Bartholomew County Courthouse and the Robert N. Stewart Bridge immersed in a bright, green color.
It’s all part of a nationwide program called Operation Green Light. From Nov. 7 through Nov. 13, this new national collaborative initiative is intended to raise awareness about the unique challenges faced by many veterans.
Created by the National Association of Counties, Operation Green Light is intended to inspire struggling veterans to reach out to their county veteran service officer who can assist them in getting the help they need.
In Columbus, the veteran services officer is Larry Garrity, who has an office on the second floor of the Bartholomew County Governmental Office building at Third and Franklin streets. Garrity can be reached by phone at 812-379-1540.
Created by the National Association of Counties, Operation Green Light will also let the public know about resources available at the county, state, and federal level to assist veterans and their families.
The traditional Veterans Day observance is always held on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. The month, day and time commemorates the Armistice signed near Paris, France, by the Germans and Allied forces that brought an end to World War I (1914-1918).
In Columbus, former Mayor Fred Armstrong will be the keynote speaker when the commemoration begins on Friday, Nov. 11 at 11 a.m., at the Bartholomew County Memorial for Veterans, next to the courthouse.
A Democrat who was mayor from 1996 through 2011, Armstrong was assigned by the U.S. Army as a gunner when he was sent to Vietnam in 1967.
After being attached to a unit that was engaged in search-and-destroy missions, Armstrong would earn two Bronze Stars for heroic or meritorious service, as well as a Purple Heart, before being discharged in 1969 as a sergeant.
When Armstrong was the keynote speaker for the 2019 Memorial Day services, he advocated for more practical and consistent ways of expressing appreciation to veterans that go beyond giving medals or adding names to monuments.
