 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The Progress |
 |
| Pay It Forward - A veteran's labor of love Saturday, May 31, 2008 By Jane Elling Staff Writer MCCARTNEY - Christopher Washell, a 10-year veteran of the U.S Navy, serving during the Gulf War and Operation Iraqi Freedom, moved to McCartney in 2004. He had served 6½ years on the USS John F. Kennedy and was discharged in 2001. He called his ship a floating city where 7,500 sailors served. The Honor Roll on McCartney Road recognizing the service of 74 veterans of the Civil War, World Wars I and II and the Korean and Vietnam wars was smashed by a tractor-trailer that didn't stop after it hit the monument, and Mr. Washell found it in what he called "terrible condition." So he entered the Pay It Forward contest that The Progress and other area businesses sponsored to tell everyone about his project. He said he loves his country and wanted to show it by repairing and rebuilding the monument. Five names also need to be added to the honor roll. He said his family had constructed the monument in the 1940s, and Melvin Pearce maintained it through the years. Some 80 percent of his family has served in the military, beginning in World War I. So far, he has spent $450 of his own funds and worked 250 hours to rebuild the brick monument, to place a walk leading to it, purchase the holders designating the various wars and the American flags to put in them. He built bird houses to decorate the area and said posts have been placed around the area to hopefully keep traffic from once again destroying the site. He thanked David Wiseman, owner of Nature's Treasures Greenhouse in Madera, for providing flowers and invites everyone to come and view the monument. |
|||