Westbrook residents will gather in Riverbank Park Monday to remember those who have died serving the country, but some local veterans are honored there year-round.
About five years ago, through donations from the city and the Cornelia Warren Foundation, a memorial was erected in the park, where veterans with ties to Westbrook can have their names and years of service engraved in bricks that circle around a flag. And there’s still plenty of room for more to be added.
“It’s a way of publicly honoring a family member or friend who’s in the military,” said Arty Ledoux, deputy director of public services.
The Westbrook War Memorial was created with blank bricks, and when someone orders one to be engraved in honor of a veteran, it’s public services’ job to dig up the brick, have it branded and put it back in the circle alongside the names of other local veterans.
“We’re on the fifth ring,” Ledoux said about the circles of bricks that have names engraved on them. There are 18 rings of blank bricks left for veterans or their friends and family members to have engraved.
Though for Ledoux, installing the bricks is part of his job, it’s a job that has a special meaning for him.
“I was in the Marines myself, which is why this is very important to me personally,” said Ledoux, whose son is currently serving in the Navy. Both their names have permanent places in the park, along with Ledoux’s father and brother.
The names of several longtime Westbrook families take up whole sections of rows at the monument. One of them is Caron.
The youngest of 15 children, Larry Caron was one of eight brothers who served in the military, and his son Mark was in the Marines with Ledoux.
After seeing the Korean War through to the end, Caron, 71, traveled to Japan, Vietnam, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic with the Marines.
“I was just running all over the world,” said Caron. But eventually, he made it back to Westbrook, and that’s where he decided was the best place to permanently acknowledge his own and his family members’ service in the military.
“I felt it was an honor that we have served as a family, and we should be recognized,” he said. “It means a lot to me.”
Bob Barton, who organized this year’s Memorial Day parade, has his name on a brick in honor of his service in the 11th Airborne Parachute Division during the 1950s. Barton said he’s appreciative of the monument as a way to keep patriotism alive.
“I don’t think they do enough of that today,” he said, and added that, with no children of his own, it’s a way for his family name to live on in Westbrook, as well.
As Barton is busy making sure the parade runs smoothly, Caron and his family members will head down to the park, like they do every year, to watch the parade and to visit the monument together.
“It’s a beautiful thing,” he said.
A CLOSER LOOK
To order a brick to be engraved and placed in the Westbrook War Memorial, pick up a form at Westbrook Public Services, 371 Saco St., or call 854-0660, Monday-Friday, from 6:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. The form can also be found on the Public Services Web page cemeteries tab at westbrookmaine.com.
The bricks, which cost $35, are engraved with the name of the veteran, the branch of service and the dates of service. Both current and former Westbrook residents who served in the military, including the Merchant Marine, are eligible to buy the bricks.
Brick by brick – Westbrook remembers veterans with monument
Brick by brick – Westbrook remembers veterans with monument
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