BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Plans for a U.S. military memorial are the talk of the town in Grant-Valkaria.
Some residents, though, are concerned about project, which is still under construction. The issue is with the proposed life-sized soldier statue included as a tribute to those who served.
What You Need To Know
- A new U.S. military memorial in Grant-Valkaria includes a controversial soldier statue
- Local veteran Richard Dockery says the statue is not historically accurate, and actually resembles an enemy soldier
- The town council is facing criticism over the choice, while other statues were rejected due to copyright issues
- The memorial is set to be completed this year and spans nearly 5,000 square feet
Army veteran Richard Dockery served during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. But even before he signed up, he was collecting all things from military history.
His service and passion for precision makes him good at spotting inaccuracies when it comes to military-related items like uniforms and gear.
“It’s an attention to detail thing, everything has a meaning, everything has a placement, everything has a purpose, and it’s very strict,” Dockery said. “It’s a matter of appreciation for the veteran community as a whole.”
Dockery saw a picture of the soldier statue idea on the town’s website.
To him, things didn’t look right.
“It’s a soldier, but it’s not a U.S. soldier," Dockery said. "Everything from the helmet, the vest, the gear, pants, jacket, boots, everything is wrong. It’s kind of mix and match."
Dockery says the attire and gear look more like something you’d see on an enemy soldier, not a U.S. one.
“You’ve got this beautiful memorial honoring veterans, then you are putting something that closely resembles somebody on the opposite side of the fence,” he said.
Dockery felt like he needed to speak up, so he went to this week’s town council meeting.
“And I think if we don’t make changes to it, we’re not honoring our veterans, honoring our soldiers, because it’s truly not representative of what you’ll see in any of U.S. branches,” he told the council.
Lois McManus is president of the Grant-Valkaria Community Association. She told the council many of the soldier statutes their committee picked were copyrighted and unusable.
And the soldier they did choose is in several memorials across the country.
“All of them wanted this soldier, so I don’t know what to tell him," she told the council. "If he doesn’t like it, don’t come and see it."
McManus didn’t return a request for comment.
The nearly 5,000-square-foot memorial is expected to be completed this year.
