by Morgan Wall, Mt. Airy News
DOBSON — After receiving approval from the Surry County Schools Board of Education in December, the Fallen Eagles Memorial Committee has moved forward with plans for Surry Central High School.
The committee, which is comprised mostly of family and friends of three Surry Central alumni who died while serving their country, is working on creating a Fallen Eagles Memorial Garden at the high school.
The original concept, which included three individual markers, has been modified slightly to become one marker with all three names. The golden eagle that was originally to be placed on the side of the school building has been changed to having an eagle etched on the free-standing memorial.
The memorial will be placed behind the flagpoles at the school in the grassy area between the sidewalk and the science wing. The space is about 6 feet deep and 20 feet long.
The group will also plant flowers and bushes around the garden and hopes to construct a bench as well. The committee has enlisted the help of the SCHS horticulture teacher to help determine which plants will grow best in that area and which ones would require the least amount of upkeep.
“It’s something we hope would evolve and be a good image for the school,” said Ron Phillips, chairman of the committee, at the Dec. 7 board meeting.
The memorial will honor Sgt. Gerold Lee Mounce, SCHS class of 1963, who served in the Army, Cpl. Dale Alan Gunnell, SCHS class of 1965, who served in the Marine Corps, and Pfc. Adam Lee Marion, SCHS class of 2000, who served in the Army.
“It’s an amazing great thing for Surry Central to have that and have a constant reminder of what people that serve this country give of themselves,” said Kevin Via, principal. “We should be proud of them, respect them and be thankful that we have people willing to do that.”
The committee hopes to start the construction process on the memorial as soon as it receives some materials as well as doing some work to prepare the grounds at the school. The remainder of the construction as far as erecting the memorial and doing the planting will take place in the spring.
The dedication ceremony is tentatively scheduled for May 31, Memorial Day. The committee hopes to get the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Vietnam Veterans organizations in the area involved in the dedication as well as the SCHS Air Force JROTC.
Because Memorial Day is a holiday for the school system, Via said that the school will plan a separate ceremony with the JROTC so the students can be a part of it.
The committee is still looking for support from the community and hopes to make all SCHS alumni aware of the memorial.
“We want to peak the interest of the entire county,” said Phillips. “We’re setting up a public blog and we want that to be open to anybody to seek information.”
The address for the blog is FallenEaglesMemorial.blogspot.com.
The committee is also in the process of setting up a bank account at Southern Community Bank to allow people to make contributions to the memorial and its upkeep, for which the committee will be responsible.
Contact Morgan Wall at mwall@mtairynews.com or 719-1929.
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The memorial service for the Fallen Eagles of Surry Central was very touching and I thought wonderfully done. The ROTC kids did a great job as well as the singers and the TAPS players. I thought the whole service was great and I know Gerald, Dale and Adam would be pleased. The memorial stone and benches were beautiful and I couldn't think of a better place for the memorial stone than behind the flags. I would like to thank you and all those who had part in making the service special to the family members. Thank you. Linda Gunnell Fie
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