Goodman plans new veterans memorial park to honor heroes

GOODMAN, Mo. — A new way to publicly honor heroes is in the works in the city of Goodman.

A new veterans memorial park will be constructed in the community's downtown area.

It's an idea by Goodman resident Raymond Villa, who served in the U.S. Army from 1976 to 1996.

He's a member of the Goodman Betterment Club, the group responsible for the memorial's creation.

Villa says the land for the memorial was donated by First Community Bank of Goodman.

They're also donating a flag pole, which previously belonged to the bank, but was salvaged after the Goodman tornado in April 2017. Villa says that pole will bear the American flag.

Other flag poles will showcase the flags of each branch of the military.

Memorial bricks will also be laid down, bearing the names of military veterans, first responders, and even community members.

"We have a lot of great citizens that have made this town what it is and that, you know, and their family wants to honor them with a brick -- we're going to have a civilian and business side of the memorial -- and then all the veterans on another side. So, we want everybody to be, you know, because we've got great community members here, you know, and ones that have passed -- but we still want to honor them. So, the more, the merrier. We'll take anybody's brick that wants to put it in here," said Raymond Villa, Goodman Betterment Club member.

No word yet on a date to break ground for the project.

If you're interested in purchasing a brick for the memorial, visit the link, here.