The President and Board Director of the National Special Forces Green Beret Memorial Park Foundation Ret. U.S. Army Special Forces Lt. Col. Kirk Windmueller announced plans for a memorial park during the Moore County Board of Commissioners March 18 meeting. Windmueller said it would be a park and not a museum.
The county commissioners agreed to lease 15 acres near the airport on Airport Road for $1 per year for 99 years to the National Special Forces Green Beret Memorial Park Foundation. The land is subject to FAA grant assurances, so the Airport Authority is seeking permission.
The park will honor U.S. Army Special Forces Green Beret soldiers of every era and the legacy of the Special Forces regiment. It has a projected cost of $80 million.
“The National Special Forces Green Beret Foundation is paying to build and maintain the park,” said Creative Director and artist for the project, Rebecca Clark, to Sandhills Sentinel. “The foundation is privately fundraising with individual patron donors, corporate sponsors, and other organizations.”
Windmueller said this would be the world’s only National Special Forces Green Beret Memorial Park, rivaling any monument and memorial in the nation’s capital.
The park will be the shape of an arrowhead, the shoulder sleeve insignia of Special Forces. The sculpture monuments and memorial walls with bronze relief artwork will portray soldiers operating across the world on their missions. The memorial includes 12 Special Forces bronze sculpture monuments and six panels listing names of heroes.
“Our goal here is to create a memorial that’s honoring legendary elite Green Beret soldiers of every era,” Windmueller said about the memorial being a visual experience open to the public with a film to explain the monuments, history, and sacrifices.
The park will create local jobs and increase tourism with retirement, promotion, and honor ceremonies. It is expected to be completed within five years.
To learn about other topics discussed at the meeting, please click here.
Feature photo: The proposed Special Forces Memorial Park and location near the Moore County Airport in the Southern Pines/Whispering Pines area. Graphic provided by the Special Forces Memorial Park Foundation.
~Written by Sandhills Sentinel journalist Stephanie M. Sellers. Stephanie is also an English instructor at Central Carolina Community College. She is the author of young adult fiction, including When the Yellow Slugs Sing and Sky’s River Stone, and a suspense, GUTTERSNIPE: Shakespearean English Stage Play with Translation, and a new upcoming release published by Golden Storyline Books, a science fiction, Amagi.
To sign up for the free Sandhills Sentinel breaking news and weekly e-newsletter, please click here.
