By JOHN HOINSKI
Staff Writer
Although funding for the Luz-
erne County Vietnam Memorial
statue is moving right along,
committee ‘members say they
will still accept donations to
help fulfill their dream.
“The donations are coming in
a lot faster,” said Michael
Balash, of RD 3, Dallas, vice-
chairman of the committee.
“We are hoping to raise
between $40,000 and $45,000, but
if anyone would like to help out
with a donation, we would cer-
tainly appreciate it.”
The statue, an 8’3’’ copper and
bronze model which will stand
on a 10 foot limestone base, is
expected to be in place by next
September on the South Lawn of
the Luzerne County Courthouse.
“We approached the commis-
sioners and laid out our plans
for what we wanted to do,”
Balash explained. ‘And they
were very cooperative and
should be commended for what
they have done. They said they
would help as much as they can
and they did.”
The idea of erecting a statue
to commemorate the MIA’s
(Missing in Action), POW’s
(Prisoners of War), and KIA’s
(Killed in Action) of the Viet-
nam War began last December.
Ten thousand Luzerne County
residents served in Vietnam and
75 of them were killed there.
“We started talking about it
one day at the Post 2, Veterans
of the Vietnam War building in
Swoyersville,”’ Balash said.
‘“That’s where we started laying
the groundwork - who would be
chairman - and so forth. But
there are places all over the
country that have something to
honor the Vietnam veterans and
we thought this area should
have one, too. It was a long
time coming.”
Balash, who served in the Air
Force from 1969 to 1972 and who
saw some time in Vietnam (non
combat), said he believes the
Memorial will be good for the
local verterans.
“Personally, I think it will
bring them closer together as
individuals,” Balash said. “It
will be a place where they can
go; where they can grieve a
little.”
his time in Thailand where he
was a security policeman
(canine handler), he knows
what things could have been
like for him during his stint.
“You think about some of the
areas you were in and some of
the things you went through,”
Balash recalled. “You wonder
what it could have been like to
be a POW or a MIA. You don’t
think about it all the time. But,
there are times when you think
back.”
Anyone wishing to send dona-
tions to help fulfill a dream can
mail them to: Luzerne County
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Fund, c/o First Eastern Bank,
P.O. Box 1167, Wilkes-Barre,
Pa., 18703.
This model of the Vietnam
War Memorial for Luzerne
County is a depiction of a
heavy-gauge copper and bronze
sculpture with a natural sulfide
bronchantite patina set atop a
i limestone base. The base is 10’
long, 6°10” wide, 2’ high. The
sculpture atop measure 9°6”’
high, for a total of 11 1-2’ from
the ground. The figure of the
valiant veteran is 8’3"” tall from
toe to head, or 1.43 times life
size.
The warrior, wearing combat
fatigue pants and boots, holds a
broken K-Bar Knife and stands
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atop the shield - the Keystone of
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(See STATUE, page 12)
Memorial statue
Shown here is a photo of a
statue scheduled to be con-
structed on the South Lawn
of the Luzerne County Court-
house. The statue will pay
tribute to all veterans of the
Vietnam War. :
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Kingston
~
By JOHN HOINSKI
Staff Writer
The Kingston Township Police
Department will add one officer
to its force and promote another
to the rank of sergeant, effec-
tive January. The announce-
ment was made last Wednesday
at the supervisors’ monthly
meeting.
It has not been determined
who the new officer will be until
township officials can review
the list of civil service appli-
cants. But if no individual under
consideration is able to accept
the position, the township will
ask that another test be given to
another set of applicants.
“The Department of Commu-
nity Affairs said it would be
able to give a test the second
week of January,” said Kings-
ton Township Manager Fred
Potzer said. ‘“‘Our first job will
to review the list of applicants
we have now. But if those
people cannot accept the job
because of some reason, then
given.”
The . sergeant’s test will
administered in January and an
appointment could be made as
early as February. That person
will be second in command and
will work primarily on investi-
gations such as burglaries and
thefts and other matters.
“This way he won’t have to
stay around for things like
duty at all times. We could have
main arteries (roads) and
-of town.”
state’s preference of having one
policeman for every 1,000 resi-
dents. Kingston Township cur-
rently has a population of
approximately 6,800 people and,
with seven full-time and seven
part-time policemen, the town-
ship would meet that criteria.
“This will be the culmination
of something we have been
working on for about a year and
a half,” Potzer said. “Now we
have made enough improve:
ments so that we can handle the
future growth of the commu-
nity.”
Births
(The following Back Mountain
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