(MassLive – Jeanette DeForge) City officials and employees, state legislators, veterans, children and even dog owners joined together to ceremonially break ground the start of construction on a new park that is going to offer something for almost everyone.
The new Western Massachusetts Post 9/11 and Service Dog Memorial Park is going to be far more than a monument, the city’s first dog park or a place that will remember those who were killed in war, although all those things will be encompassed in the park, said Stephanie Shaw, director of veterans services.
“I wanted to make a space where my five children can come and play and I can educate my children about what I did, what their father did, what their friends did,” she said.
Thus created the park that recognizes the thousands of people who are veterans or currently serving in the military, as well as those who have given their lives for those who were killed in war. It also recognizes and will educate people about service dogs of all types, Shaw said.
“There is so much good that comes out of military service. There is always sacrifice, whether it is the ultimate sacrifice or it is your time or your body or the strain, but there is so much growth, there is so much opportunity,” she said.
The park is to be built this starting this spring, on 7 acres of wooded land off Westover Road that was given to the city for recreational purposes when Westover Air Reserve base downsized in the 1970s. It will include a playground made with natural elements such as logs and rocks which mimics obstacle courses the military uses to train. The dog area will have fenced-in parks for small and large dogs and a series of memorials to working dogs. There will also be a wheelchair-accessible path and a monument to service members.
State Sen. John C. Velis, who is currently a major in the U.S. Army Reserve, said just half of 1% of the country’s population has ever served in the military. While each generation of veterans has their own uniqueness, Velis admitted his affinity is with Sept. 11 veterans since he is one.
“If you joined the military post 9/11 or before that you knew you were going (to Afghanistan or Iraq) and you knew you were probably going to be there more than one time,” he said. “They volunteered and many of them didn’t come back.”
The creation of the park began at least a decade ago. Shaw said when she took over as veterans’ services director about five years ago she was faced with three large binders filled with ideas, meeting minutes and other documents related to a proposed creation of a park that had languished.