The Regional Monument of Courage is coming to Lubbock this fall and will honor recipients of the Medal of Honor and Purple Heart, as well as Gold Star families.
“I’d like to believe that it’s going to be awesome like this one. It’ll serve a purpose to help us remember and honor individuals who gave a portion of their life or parts of their body through wounds and so forth in combat to keep us free,” said Steve Oien.
The future home of the regional monument of courage will be on the west side of the current war memorial in Henry Huneke Park.
Oien serves as the commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart for Chapter 0900 and said it’s important to remember someone paid the price for the freedoms we have today. It’s through memorials and monuments like these he says we remember the sacrifices made.
“The Regional Monument of Courage is going to bring these three groups of individuals, the Medal of Honor recipients, the Gold Star families and the Purple Heart recipients, who are still living with what they have done for our freedom, and bring them back into the forefront,” Oien said, pointing out often times those recipients and families tend to be overlooked.
“I like to think that healing takes place, but can you ever really heal a heart that has a hole in it where a loved one used to be?”
“The wounded warriors who are crippled for life or live with their injuries for life, and they’re the other part of the story,” he said.
The monument will honor those men, women and families from the South Plains Panhandle and Permian-Basin.
“We wake up everyday and go to work and think of our freedom seldom, right? It’s just what we do, but we have forgotten,” said Oien, “We need to remember.”
With plans to break ground this fall, Oien said fundraising is one way to remember these heroes.
“Once one person said, ‘I’m not a veteran, can I contribute to this?’ Hello! Yes you can, you’re an American,” said Oien, “If you want to support this monument that way and help us to remember these three groups of individuals that would be tremendous.”
Oien said every dollar counts when it comes to repaying these Medal of Honor and Purple Heart recipients and Gold Star families.
“I think there will be a lot of healing done through that monument for Gold Star families, our wounded warriors, Purple Heart recipients, and families of our Medal of Honor recipients as well.”
Anyone wanting to make a donation can click here. Oien says donations to the monument are considered a tax deductible and they can provide you with those forms.
