The Mexico City Council held Tuesday, Nov. 12, began with a presentation regarding the construction of a veterans memorial right here in town. Chad Unterreiner, director of parks and recreation and the Central Missouri Veterans Monument Foundation were first on the docket.

After roll call, Unterreiner was up to speak. He began working on this project with the foundation two months ago and presented the proposed location at Teal Lake Park as well as some terms and conditions.

“There are some responsibilities that the city is going to take on for this project if it does come to fruition so tonight is about getting the blessing from the city on this so they can start proceeding with opportunities to fundraise and bring this to life,” says Unterreiner.

For example, the city will be responsible for the striping of the new parking lot off Huntington Drive. 

The Central Missouri Veterans Monument Foundation is a relatively new nonprofit organization registered with the state that has been around for only six to eight months. The inspiration for its formation came about after the foundation’s president, Russell Davis, saw similar monuments in Boonville and New Franklin.

“I had just become commander out here and I said, ‘Why doesn’t Mexico have a veterans memorial?’ ” remembers Davis. 

So, after calling a meeting at the VFW and finding no good reason why they didn’t have a memorial, a committee was formed, discussions with the city began and the foundation was ready to start fundraising right away.

And now, Davis is acting president of the foundation. With him at the city council meeting was the foundation’s treasurer, Raymond Legg.

After the introduction by Parks and Recreation, Davis and Legg stepped up to the podium to answer any questions about the future memorial. 

“The monuments are going to be 6 feet tall and 3 feet wide and there will be the emblem of each branch of service on both sides,” says Davis.

The seven granite monuments, which represent the seven branches of the U.S military – Army, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Merchant Marines, Space Force, Air Force, and Navy – will border a 70-foot circle. At the center will be an arc which reads, “All gave some, some gave all.”

The monuments themselves cost about $10,000 each but they have all been paid for by the VFW. The rest of the money will be gathered through fundraising efforts.

“Mexico has always been good about helping out the veterans on fundraisers so we’re counting on it,” says Davis.

Though the monument, which will be named the Central Missouri Veterans Memorial, will call Mexico home, it stands to honor all central Missouri veterans.