Erv Hodges plans to give Douglas County veterans something to celebrate next Veterans Day.

Hodges said ground should be broken on the Douglas County Memorial of Honor around this time next year. The memorial, at the Lawrence Visitor Information Center, would honor the more than 300 Douglas County residents killed in military, police and fire service.

“Basically, the original group felt the city of Lawrence had never recognized those who had died during combat, or for that matter, police and fire with any symbol so people could remember them,” said Hodges, a former city commissioner and chairman of the Douglas County Memorial of Honor Committee.

The project began in 1999 with a meeting of about 30 veterans. The Lawrence City Commission approved the plan in February 2000, but not without debate. Some in the community said the statue – a 14-foot figure by Lawrence artist Jim Brothers that is half-phoenix, half man – would compete with the simple steeple at the Visitor Center, 402 N. Second St.

Now, Hodges says he’s relieved the end of the project is in sight. Dedication of the memorial is set for July 4, 2004.

A committee has raised about $154,000 for the statue and plaza with bricks, shrubs and benches. He’s hoping to raise another $46,000, and any extra money would go to the city to pay for upkeep.

Jim Brothers, Lawrence sculptor, is nearly finished with his model for the newest edition to the Lawrence Visitor Information Center. From

The memorial also will include a computer inside the Visitor Center that will provide information on those killed.

“We needed it to be someplace where people could recognize them and at the same time provide more than just a name,” Hodges said.

The phoenix, a longtime symbol of Lawrence, was a mythical bird that consumed itself in fire, then rose again from its ashes. Many compare Lawrence’s revival after William Quantrill’s raid to the mythical bird.

Hodges said it also was appropriate for the memorial.

“In my opinion, it indicates how many can rise from conflict to do higher things and better things,” he said.

Brothers said he planned to begin casting the statue in January. He said the piece has changed slightly since he originally designed it. It now is “more classic,” he said, and includes more of the human form and less of the bird form.

“I made some changes, and I like them quite a bit better,” he said. “No artist can leave well enough alone.”

Brothers said he’s come to realize the importance of veterans through his work on the project and his work on national D-Day Memorial in Washington, D.C. He also is completing a statue of Dwight Eisenhower to represent Kansas in the Capitol.

“They’ve come close to my heart, the people I’ve met,” he said. “We all hope when it comes time to serve, we’d rise up to the occasion. They don’t have to hope that. They already do and did.”

How to helpContributions to the Douglas County Memorial of Honor can be sent to Douglas County Memorial of Honor Foundation, P.O. Box 123, Lawrence 66044 ¢ Local Veterans Day events planned (11-10-02)¢ Federal, state offices to close for holiday (11-10-02)¢ Department of Veterans Affairs site

For whom it standsAccording to Erv Hodges, 316 men and women from Douglas County have been killed while serving their country.That includes 161 during the Civil War; one during the Spanish-American War; 19 during World War I; 101 during World War II; 15 during the Korean War; 16 during the Vietnam War; and one fireman and three police officers.For more information on the project, or to provide information about a serviceman killed in the line of duty, call Hodges at 841-2889.