The following article appeared in The Reporter on 5/11/2006
SOMERVILLE - Tomorrow is the 38-year anniversary of the end of combat for Ted Dima, a Vietnam War veteran and junior vice commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart Chapter 27.
"I was hit by a mortar round. We were supporting a Special Forces camp outside Kham Duc, a Vietnamese village. Basically it was overrun by North Vietnamese regulars," said Dima, who suffered extensive shrapnel damage while serving with the Army's 196th Light Infantry Brigade.
On Tuesday, Dima checked up on the progress of work going on at Veterans' Memorial Plaza, where a Purple Heart monument of engraved red granite - 5 feet by 4 feet by 18 inches - will be one of many permanent tributes to men and women from Somerset County who served this country in times of war and peace.
"This is more than we hoped for," said Dima, as workers from Hillsborough-based Flanagan's Contracting Inc. moved closer to installing nearly 11,000 square feet of concrete pavers at the quarter-acre site between the county administration building and county jail on Grove Street.
"It's going to be nice to have someplace where you can look on the monument and reflect on family members who were not so lucky," he said.
While Veterans' Memorial Plaza was originally scheduled to be completed in time for Memorial Day, May 29, Richard Close, design specialist with the county's engineering division, said it will likely take up to a couple of weeks more past Memorial Day. He said the $1 million county-funded project, which broke ground last September, will probably be 95 percent complete by the holiday.
The plaza also includes bricks and plaques from the former National Guard armory that was located at the site before being torn down in 1999. The Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders had originally planned to build a general purpose-type plaza at the site before the Military Order of the Purple Heart approached county officials three years ago with the idea of making it a special place for all veterans.
When complete, five flagpoles positioned in a circle will fly the flags of the five branches of the military - Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard. Another pole at the edge of the plaza's main area will raise the Merchant Marine flag, and the U.S., state and county flags will wave from the entrance.
A yet undetermined number of military monuments, including one for Disabled American Veterans, will outline the plaza.
Close said the rest of the property will be landscaped with a variety of trees, including maples, dogwoods, and cherries, as well as rhododendrons and other flowering shrubs.
There will be benches, and a lower level area includes a stage for ceremonies, public events and small concerts.
"It's large enough for ceremonies, but intimate enough for an individual or family to come out and commemorate what a friend or family member did," Close said.
Dima said he is pleased that the plaza will be open to the public in time for some of the older veterans to see.
"A lot of World War II veterans have passed since the start of this," he said. "The ones that are left will feel good about seeing this completed."
SOMERVILLE - Tomorrow is the 38-year anniversary of the end of combat for Ted Dima, a Vietnam War veteran and junior vice commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart Chapter 27.
"I was hit by a mortar round. We were supporting a Special Forces camp outside Kham Duc, a Vietnamese village. Basically it was overrun by North Vietnamese regulars," said Dima, who suffered extensive shrapnel damage while serving with the Army's 196th Light Infantry Brigade.
On Tuesday, Dima checked up on the progress of work going on at Veterans' Memorial Plaza, where a Purple Heart monument of engraved red granite - 5 feet by 4 feet by 18 inches - will be one of many permanent tributes to men and women from Somerset County who served this country in times of war and peace.
"This is more than we hoped for," said Dima, as workers from Hillsborough-based Flanagan's Contracting Inc. moved closer to installing nearly 11,000 square feet of concrete pavers at the quarter-acre site between the county administration building and county jail on Grove Street.
"It's going to be nice to have someplace where you can look on the monument and reflect on family members who were not so lucky," he said.
While Veterans' Memorial Plaza was originally scheduled to be completed in time for Memorial Day, May 29, Richard Close, design specialist with the county's engineering division, said it will likely take up to a couple of weeks more past Memorial Day. He said the $1 million county-funded project, which broke ground last September, will probably be 95 percent complete by the holiday.
The plaza also includes bricks and plaques from the former National Guard armory that was located at the site before being torn down in 1999. The Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders had originally planned to build a general purpose-type plaza at the site before the Military Order of the Purple Heart approached county officials three years ago with the idea of making it a special place for all veterans.
When complete, five flagpoles positioned in a circle will fly the flags of the five branches of the military - Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard. Another pole at the edge of the plaza's main area will raise the Merchant Marine flag, and the U.S., state and county flags will wave from the entrance.
A yet undetermined number of military monuments, including one for Disabled American Veterans, will outline the plaza.
Close said the rest of the property will be landscaped with a variety of trees, including maples, dogwoods, and cherries, as well as rhododendrons and other flowering shrubs.
There will be benches, and a lower level area includes a stage for ceremonies, public events and small concerts.
"It's large enough for ceremonies, but intimate enough for an individual or family to come out and commemorate what a friend or family member did," Close said.
Dima said he is pleased that the plaza will be open to the public in time for some of the older veterans to see.
"A lot of World War II veterans have passed since the start of this," he said. "The ones that are left will feel good about seeing this completed."
