After years of unfortunate setbacks, the Newton County Veterans Memorial in Decatur is finally taking shape. And while this will make a number of people happy, none will be happier than the man leading the project, Johnny Reeves.
Reeves, who also serves as Newton County’s Veteran’s Service Officer, said that after years of untimely events that kept the project from getting started, including weather, the COVIC pandemic, and some issues with getting entities together for prep, the project finally became a reality thanks some members of American Legion Post 89 that stepped in to get the memorial going.
“We definitely had plenty of setbacks. We’ve had a couple of people in the past that volunteered their time and were wide open and ready to go with the project, but when it came time to start, they would have other business obligations. And I definitely don’t want to bash them because they were kind enough to volunteer their services for the project,” said Reeves. “Then some members of American Legion Post 89 decided it was time for it to be done, so they jumped down there and got started.”
According to Reeves, 500 of the 550 bricks that have been purchased have been laid into ground at the memorial. The bricks that remain to be added to the memorial were some that were ordered after 2023 or a few bricks that were chipped during shipment and had to be returned to be corrected.
“Any bricks that were ordered at the end of 2023, they have not been laid yet. We’re waiting until we get a big order because they will only ship a big order,” he said. “But we still have spots for them. What we’re going to try to do in the future is do two orders a year, that way we can get 20-30 bricks in, rather than 5-10 bricks.”
Reeves added that the memorial was designed for up to 1200 bricks, so bricks can still be ordered. Those who are interested are invited to come by the Newton County Veterans Service Office at the Newton County Courthouse, call the office at 601-635-2178., or email him at johnnyr1965@yahoo.com. Order forms can also be found on a table outside the office.
Reeves also reminds that this is a memorial for all veterans of Newton County.
“At last count, which was a couple of years ago, we had 2,500 living veterans in Newton County,” said Reeves. “The only requirements are that you have to have lived in Newton County, even if it was just a day, and had an honorable service.”
Work Continues
Now that the bricks are laid, the next step will be a process of adding other donated items for the memorial.
“The soldier’s monument is going up next, followed by the flagpoles. The Newton County Supervisors have been very helpful by donating gravel to go towards parking. The Town of Decatur came and dug us a dedicated water system at no charge,” Reeves said. “We’ve also got four park benches that were donated by people. The next process will be getting lighting, and we’re leaning on going solar for that. We’ll begin working on landscaping in the Fall, and we have a fence building company, Custom Fence Builder, that are donating labor for building a fence.”
Reeves added that they are still taking donations that would help with buying materials for the fencing and other additions to the Veterans Memorial. If anyone would like to donate, please contact him at the County’s Veterans Service Office.
As for the Grand Opening of the Newton County Veterans Memorial, Reeves said he’s hoping they have a ceremony on Veterans Day, November 11. Until then, he invites everyone to stop by and take a look at the memorial.
“We’ve had a lot of people that are visiting already,” said Reeves. “I want the people to know that they’re welcome to come on a weekend or in the mornings when work isn’t being done to the memorial and see the work that’s being done.”
