“I’m already setting a goal for myself in 2016….to be less of a worrier and more of a warrior.”
~ Brett Williams
So, I did this post once already, but my theme update went horribly wrong and ate the original post. Here I am, just before work, trying to recreate it. So, in short I said Morgan County has one Medal of Honor recipient, Col. William E. Barber. This year, on the Fourth of July, the town commemorated his heroism by erecting this Bronze Statue on the courthouse lawn.
My dad and Lynn Nickell worked their butts off to raise funds to build this memorial designed and forged by sculptor and former Marine Steve Tyrone. With the help of the VFW, DAV, Standefer Builders and host of others, they got it done. You can see it sits just down from the WWI Doughboy memorial that the same three men – Nickell, Terry & Tyrone – worked so hard to reconstructed after the 2012 tornado destroyed it. Now, the state highway department has a radical idea to add a turn lane and widen West Liberty’s Main Street. This in a town where they don’t really need two of the three red lights they have. Word has it that the Doughboy will have to be relocated. Perhaps Col. Barber, too. The project seems a waste of money, time, and effort. The Doughboy especially has become a symbol of the little town’s resilience. So, I find it disheartening that it can be so easily dismissed by those who really have no stake in the city’s recovery. Can’t do much about it, though. So, I’ll just continue to be grateful for dad, and Lynn, and everyone who works so hard to help our little town get back on its feet and be the sweet, charming home it once was.
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