ORANGE — The town of Orange has 705 veterans – around 9 percent of the population.
Many of their names are listed on the town’s Honor Roll Wall at Memorial Park, but not those who fought in the Gulf War, Bosnia, Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan, and other conflicts since the Vietnam War. That’s going to change.
The Trustees of Soldiers’ Memorials main project right now is expanding the Memorial Park Honor Roll Wall, which includes the names of Orange residents who fought in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. The expansion is funded, in part, by a Massachusetts Historical Commission grant of $6,000 and by donations, including a $10,000 donation from the Orange American Legion Post 172.
“This is history for the future generations,” said James Cornwell, an Air Force veteran, a member of the Selectboard and a member of the trustees, who is working on the Honor Roll Wall expansion project.
“That wall is what stands for freedom, right there,” Cornwell added.
According to Cornwell, it’s too early to say whether the project will be a literal expansion of the wall, or if a smaller wall would be built next to the existing structure.
What is clear is the expansion will include all veterans from Orange who fought in conflicts since Vietnam, “right up to Iraq and Afghanistan,” Cornwell said.
The trustees have met with Athol Granite Works and Rock of Ages, a granite quarrying company from Vermont, to discuss the project and will be continuing their talks at their March 28 meeting.
According to Cornwell, the original charge that led to the Honor Roll Wall being built was to simply rebuild the older memorial in front of Wheeler Library. However, including the names of younger veterans was always a plan in the backs of people’s minds, Cornwell said.
“This has been talked about since the wall that’s there now was in its planning stages,” said Cornwell, remembering the wall’s unveiling at the town’s 2010 Memorial Day ceremony.
The trustees, started in 2009, are responsible for maintaining the town’s monuments and memorials for servicemen and servicewomen, and operates entirely through grants and donations.
It’s an impressive feat that they are able to repaint cannons, annually clean the World War I Peace Statue — the official peace statue of Massachusetts — and maintain the 11 soldiers’ monuments in the town’s cemeteries without spending even a taxpayer’s penny, Cornwell said. Fundraising is always needed, and the trustees will be looking for more money to become eligible for grants requiring matching funds. But few projects are more worthy of donations, Cornwell said.
“The Honor Roll Wall and the Peace Statue are the focal points of that park,” Cornwell said.
Cornwell was in the Air Force from 1961 to 1981, serving as a mechanic and later boom operator responsible for assisting in-flight refueling.
“These memorials, they make me feel grateful and emotional,” Cornwell said.
As a serviceman during the Vietnam War era, Cornwell saw soldiers being treated, portrayed or perceived negatively in the 1960s and 1970s. Today, however, he says things are different and soldiers are rightfully respected. Extending the Honor Roll Wall is part of extending that respect, he said.
“It’s pretty rewarding now to see the reception these guys get and the accolades these guys get,” Cornwell said. “That’s why we’re doing this.”
Reach David McLellan at dmclellan@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 268.