Korean War Veterans Association Transfers Memorial Ownership to Barnstable

Commander Stanley Jones speaks during a ceremony Thursday transferring ownership of the Korean War Veterans Memorial to the town of Barnstable.

HYANNIS – The Korean War and those who served in it were remembered Thursday morning at the Korean War Memorial at Veteran’s Beach in Hyannis.

The ceremony also included the transfer of ownership of the memorial from The Cape & Islands Chapter of the Korean War Veterans Association to the town of Barnstable.

“Members of our group are getting older and we might not last until next year so we are turning it over to the town this year instead,” said Commander Stanley Jones, a Korean War veteran. “And the town will maintain it from now on.”

The local chapter of the Korean War Veterans Association was formed in the late 1990s and an effort was initiated to install a local memorial for all Korean War veterans.

The memorial was sculpted after a famous photo of infantryman John Allen running up a hill in the fall of 1950, and was dedicated in 2000.

Several elected officials from the town were on hand to accept the responsibility of the memorial, including Town Council member James Crocker.

“This town and this town council, which many of them are represented today, as well as our town manager and assistant town manager, will never forget your service,” Crocker said. “We’ll never leave you high and dry. We’ll never leave this place with a blade of grass out of kilter.”

In 2000, the county placed $25,000 in a trust for the memorial which has now accrued to $50,000 today.

In the next few months the association will transfer another $20,000 to the trust to be used by the town to maintain the memorial.

Town Manager Mark Ells said it is an honor for the town to accept the ownership of the memorial.

“We certainly recognize all of our veterans and those who served in the Korean War,” Ells said. “We’ve worked with this group for many years in siting it here.”

A few years ago the association began discussions with the town on transferring the ownership.

“We willingly accepted the transfer and we will maintain this in a respectful manner to represent those who served and those who made that ultimate sacrifice,” Ells said. “We are very pleased and honored that this has occurred.”

By BRIAN MERCHANT, CapeCod.com NewsCenter

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