Hard-hit Vermont builds second memorial for wars in Iraq Afghanistan

BARRE, Vt. — With its carved images of falling maple leaves, a rifle-toting citizen soldier and the state Capitol, a war monument from the hand of granite sculptor Ken Maurice has Vermont written all over it.

It should: Vermont has suffered a terrible toll in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, losing 36 men who were either native sons, transplanted ones or former cadets at Norwich University military college.

The monument isn't in place yet but will be soon.

The soldiers' relatives will help break ground Sunday on the Vermont Fallen Heroes Global War on Terror Memorial, to be built at the state veterans' cemetery in Randolph Center. Paid for with private donations raised largely by the families, the $350,000 monument marks the sacrifice of those who served and the heartbreak of the loved ones left behind.

"I feel like all 36 of them are my son," said Marion Gray, 63, of East Calais, the stepmother of late Army National Guard Sgt. Jamie Gray. "This is a way to help us heal. Our main goal, all along, was 'lest they be forgotten.' "

Unlike other wars, for which memorials are generally erected in the aftermath, the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have prompted the construction of war memorials while fighting continues. Dozens have been built, from Jackson, Mich., to Fort Bragg, N.C.

Vermont already has one. In 2008, the National Guard erected a memorial to 11 of its men killed in Iraq.

With a population of about 621,000, the state's losses in the Iraq war — 22 men, by the Pentagon's count — give it the highest per-capita death rate of any state. While the state is known more for its liberal politics than its military traditions, support for troops and their families has been effusive.

"There's just been an outpouring of support, regardless of anyone's position on the war and whether we should be there," said Rick Brehm, a member of the board of directors for the Vermont National Guard Charitable Foundation, which dedicated its memorial in 2008. "The support for the people serving has never been greater. It's part of that Vermont Yankee tradition. It's what Vermonters do."

Construction of the memorial will continue through the summer, with a planned dedication on Veterans Day. Building it now makes sense, says Ray DeGiovine, whose 25-year-old son, a Marine Corps corporal, was killed in Anbar province in 2007.

"Most of us will be dead by the time this war is over," said DeGiovine, 66, of Essex. "This is going to be with us for a while."