The
Cleveland County Veteran's Memorial was dedicated on November 11, 2008.
The memorial stands at the Southwest corner of Reaves Park, near the
Kidspace Playground located at 2501 Jenkins Avenue. The memorial is
gratefully and respectfully dedicated to the men and women of Cleveland
County who have valiantly served in the military services on behalf
of the State of Oklahoma and the United States of America. The granite
plaza includes a five-pointed star approximately 30 feet across. Each
point of the star represents a branch of the United States Armed Forces.
At the center of the star is a large granite pentagon that is topped
by a bronze eagle. The walls of the centerpiece bear the names of those
who lost their life in service to our country.
The names of all other Veterans are on smaller granite tablets that
form a wall around the plaza.
The
planning of this memorial began in the fall of 2001 when a few veterans
met with City officials to begin the selection of a site for this long
awaited tribute to veterans from Cleveland County. On September 10,
2002, the Norman City Council approved this very generous and highly
visible site in Reaves Park which was acknowledged in a formal ceremony
by Cleveland County veterans on November 11, 2002.
It
is appropriate that this memorial to honor our service men and women
should be located on a former World War II military installation which
was the Naval Air Technical Training Center known locally as the "South
Base." This naval base was commissioned on September 20, 1942 and
closed March 1, 1947. With the outbreak of the Korean War, the base
was re-activated on January 15, 1952 and was later de-commissioned on
June 30, 1959. During these two periods of time, it has been estimated
at 115,000 service personnel trained at this installation.
Names
continue to be added to the memorial. Every man and woman with a tie
to Cleveland County who has, or is still serving our country's armed
forces are eligible to be included on the memorial. You may obtain applications
to nominate qualifying veterans for inclusion on the memorial by clicking
here. (You will need Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to
view this form.
Click here to obtain a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader.)
