Freedom is not Free Monument

About

The 'Freedom is not Free' monument was built on June 1, 2002 and is located on the same plot of land as the Richmond City Community building, located on the northwest corner of State and Main. The monument contains the names of men and women who participated in American wars of World Wars I & II, Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf War, with names of individuals during Peacetimes and Reserves. Five pillars hold the names of the individuals with busts for four branches of the military: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and one with a female bust. Val Lewis designed all the sculptures. At the vailing of the monument, a book containing all the names with photos of the patriots was made and is available to the public at the Richmond City building located on 1 West.

"The finished monument features a flagpole and a large flag rising from the center of a five-pointed pebble-grained star. The star is surrounded by a square of dark paving brick, which, in turn, is boarded by a light brick walkway. Each point of the star leads to a stone pillar in which is placed a marble slab and a bronze bust..."1

The Memorial Committee were:

Garr & Maxine Christensen, R. Dell & Luann Tripp, Dean Hicken, Gale V. Alvey, Norman Stockton, Ludean Watterson, Leslie Erickson, Helen Kidd, and Wendy Christensen

The site was dedicated by Dennis Jackson, President of the Richmond Utah Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Contributors

Plates and Engravings were done by Bridgeland Applied Technology College and Christensen Construction.

Gravel and Cement were provided by Watking Printing, The Herald Journal, Attorney Joe Chambers, Brent Carlson Construction, Dan Miller, Bill Wing, Barbra Stewart, Don Bell, Glenn Allred, and Kurt Christensen.

Principle Donors were George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Eccles Foundation, Lewiston State Bank, and Garr And Maxine Christensen.

Founders were Gale & Marva Dawn Alvey, Foland & Alice Anderson, the Richmond Youth Council, Faye Theurer, R. Dell & Luann Tripp, and Marice & Ludean Christensen.

Controversy

After the building of the monument, many began to realize many missing individuals, and no recognition for the U.S. Coast Guard. Lt. Jason D. Arnold, office of computer systems, U.S. Coast Guard, said in a letter to the Ogden Standard-Examiner:

"I'm sure that the folks that supported the memorial had good intentions, but they obviously overlooked a key part of memorializing America's history; that is researching history. As a member of America's smallest armed service, I often see my service omitted."2

Utah Chapter of the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge awarded the "Freedom is Not Free" monument, along with the committee members, the National Meritorious Award for Special Events award.

Sources