Veterans’ Plaza will be dedicated Wednesday for D-Day
SALEM – A new Veterans’ Plaza to recognize the nation’s veterans will be dedicated on D-Day, June 6, at the Salem Museum. The ceremony will start 4 p.m., with veterans of the armed forces especially invited. The Salem High School Jazz Band will play, and local veteran Douglas Dowe will raise the flag on a newly constructed flagpole. The plaza is to the left rear portion of the museum, adjacent to Longwood Park. In the future, the Veterans’ Plaza will serve as the man entrance to a planned art gallery on the museum’s ground floor.
Keynote speaker will be Dr. Harry Minarik of Salem who served in the Pacific during World War II and received the Navy Cross.
Inscribed bricks such as this one for a current soldier make up the Veterans' Plaza at the Salem Museum in Longwood Park that will be dedicated June 6.
“This plaza is a wonderful addition to a history museum,” said June Hall Long, who is coordinating the event, “and a beautiful tribute to the men and women who have served our nation.”
Next week’s event will be the first time the public has seen the inscribed pavers in honor and in memory of veterans. Applications are still being accepted for personalized paving bricks to recognize military personnel who served in peacetime or any war.
One of the latest pavers to be laid is in honor of a current military man, Army surgeon Maj. Michael Garbee of Salem. Nearby is one in memory of William Barnett, who served in the Civil War.
Proceeds from the inscriptions support the Salem Museum’s programs, Long explained.
The Salem Museum is located at 801 E. Main St., and is open Tuesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Saturday from noon to 5 p.m.
