ECORSE, MI: War memorial restoration completed

From The News Herald, Ecorse, MI: ECORSE: War memorial restoration completed
ECORSE — The War Memorial at John Dingell Park has been restored via a donation from a Downriver cemetery group nearly three years after a thief stole the bronze plaques that originally adorned it.

The memorial honors those who served in World War II and the Vietnam and Korean wars.

John Fenech, superintendent of Michigan Memorial Park in Huron Township, and maintenance workers Scott Mayes and Mike Novak designed and sandblasted the new plaques and installed them Oct. 7 at the park, 4495 W. Jefferson Ave.

Fenech, Mayes and Dave Diehl, also of Michigan Memorial, did the final step in installation, caulking the plaques yesterday.

The War Memorial consists of one large central stone about 9 feet tall and 8 feet wide with nine bronze tiles with the names of soldiers from Michigan who died during World War II. Smaller stones, about 5 feet tall by 3 feet wide, hold plaques on each side that pay homage to Vietnam and Korean war soldiers.

The plaques on the smaller stones that read “Korea” and “Vietnam” were stolen, along with the plaque beneath the Vietnam header.

Resident Lester Pegouske, a Vietnam War veteran, said he had been asking the City Council to fix the monument since the plaques were stolen, but nothing had been done.

“It’s not about me; it’s about somebody stealing the name of the soldiers who died,” said Pegouske, 70. “I was very aggravated by someone who did that. They probably stole it for scrap.”

Earlier this year, Pegouske said, he paid a company to do it after he had unsuccessfully tried to recruit volunteers and collect donations.

“I believe that someone should take care of these monuments, and nobody was doing it and it was making me mad,” he said.

When he went to the council to get approval, it refused to let him pay for it and Councilwoman Brenda Banks and Chuck Hunter, a former councilman and city clerk, went to Kelly Dwyer, president of Michigan Memorial, and asked for help. Pegouske had his money refunded.

Dwyer said she was more than happy to help, and Fenech, Mayes and Novak agreed to donate the time to do the work.

The new plaque is granite, which Pegouske said is more difficult to read, but Dwyer said it was chosen for a reason.

“We chose to go with granite so there wouldn’t be a chance of someone stealing bronze again to scrap it,” Dwyer said.

Fenech estimated the total cost of labor and granite to be $800 to $1,000. The granite, a certain type called Wausau, alone cost about $500, he said.

Dwyer said it took about three hours to design and sandblast the plaque and another four hours to drive to Ecorse and install it.

“We’re honored to be a part of helping the city of Ecorse with the plaque,” she said. “We think memorialization is very important.”

Fenech, Mayes and Novak had to sand down pieces of bolts left behind the header plaques and the adhesive from all three. The bolts, he said, would have proved difficult to cut when the thief stole them because of the small amount of room left behind the plaque.

Pegouske served one tour in Vietnam, building ammunition dumps as part of the Army’s 5th Special Forces, 101st Infantry, based at Fort Carlson, Colo. He returned home in January 1966 and moved to Ecorse in 1969, where he has lived since.