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Published Saturday, November 07, 2009 in Local

Dedication set for Wednesday- Medal of Honor statues in place

By Winston Skinner

The Times-Herald

Coweta County's Medal of Honor heroes are now involved in an ongoing conversation with two children -- one that should last for decades, if not centuries.

Bronze statues of Col. Joe M. Jackson and Maj. Stephen W. Pless were erected at Veterans Memorial Plaza on Friday. The statues are grouped with sculptures of a boy and girl who are listening as the Vietnam medal recipients speak. The statues will be covered and then officially unveiled Wednesday at 11 a.m.

The unveiling will be part of the annual Veterans Day program at the park at Jackson Street and Temple Avenue just north of downtown Newnan.

Workers from M.L. Masonry in Villa Rica put the statues in place. Texas sculptors Mark Austin Byrd and Jenelle Armstrong Byrd came from Dallas to see their work installed on a slight rise.

"These lifesize statues were part of the master plan for the plaza," said local veteran Dick Stender. Stender served on the city-appointed committee that planned the plaza.

He is also is commander of American Legion Post 57. The post sponsors the community Veterans' Day ceremonies each year.

Planning and fundraising for the plaza were the work of a committee of citizens and civic leaders, chaired by retired Air Force General Rob Tornow. Tornow said that he, the committee and all local veterans appreciate the support of Coweta's citizens and local governments in making the Veterans' Plaza a reality.

"Without the generosity and participation of so many Cowetans, it could not have been built," Tornow said.

The Byrds are noted for their military-themed sculptures. Their work is featured at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. and at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado. Jackson sat for the sculptors, and busts of Pless, who died in 1969, garnered approval from his mother before her death.

Jackson will be attending the ceremonies Wednesday, where he will speak. Ken Ray, a first cousin of Pless, is also on the program. People planning to attend should bring folding chairs as seating is limited.

The two Newnan natives received the Medal of Honor from Pres. Lyndon Johnson in a White House ceremony on Jan. 16, 1969.

Jackson piloted a C-123 Provider transport aircraft to conduct a rescue on May 12, 1968, near Kham Duc. The rescue by Pless, a UH-1 Iroquois "Huey" helicopter pilot, was near Quang Nai on Aug. 19, 1967.

Pless was the only Marine aviator to receive the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War.

Jackson was in the U. S. Army Air Corps and then the U.S. Air Force. He was in the military for 33 years -- including service in World War II and Korea, as well as Vietnam.

"You won't find anywhere in the USA that can boast of two medal of honor awardees from the same town and county," Stender said.

The American Legion will be soliciting Buddy Poppy donations during the week prior to Veterans' Day. Stender said that donations are urgently needed to fulfill upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas programs for VA hospitals and veterans in need.

"Our relief efforts have multiplied during this time of economic uncertainty, and the Poppy program will enable us to hold out a helping hand," Stender said. The poppies are fashioned from fabric or paper by disabled veterans, and donations from the poppy project go to help needy veterans and their families.

The poppy became a symbol of military service following World War I. Lt. Col. John McCrae wrote a poem, "In Flanders Fields," which memorialized the red flowers blooming where -- a few months before -- a war had taken place.

Georgia educator Moina Michael played a major role in popularizing the poppy project in the United States.

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