DHS Veterans Memorial Park fixed for Memorial Day
A veteran’s memorial vandalized twice is now whole again for Memorial Day weekend.
It’s a story News Channel 3 and CBS Local 2 first reported in November when five medallions were stolen from the Desert Hot Springs war memorial. Then in March, its monument was hit.
“Mostly it’s the grief and heartache from the community, from people who love this park. That was the worse part of all of this,” said Desert Hot Springs Councilmen Russell Betts.
For months Veterans Memorial Park sat broken and vandalized.
Now 5 shiny new medallions, one for each branch of the military, replace the ones stolen from the park last year. They were installed different than the first ones, with the goal of making it harder to remove.
The marble cap of the monument was repaired by the original artist as well. The city paid for all of the repairs.
“We’ve had these awhile, we were waiting for the Memorial Day event coming up on Monday to place them. We were a little worried that they might have disappeared again or damaged,” said Betts.
The park isn’t completely healed. The top of the monument is pristine and brand new, but the cracked sides serve as a reminder of the vandalism that occurred.
“The medallions and the plaque can be replaced but it’s the salt on the veterans and the community here by somebody who did this, was just terrible,” said Betts.
Veterans at the VFW Post in Desert Hot Springs are glad to see the park and those it honors are not forgotten.
“People have died to make people free, there has to be a remembrance,” said veteran Scott Allan.
“It makes us feel a lot better and it doesn’t take much to make us feel better, lets just hope it stays that way,” said veteran George Mader.
Those who gave their lives in service to our country won’t be the only ones standing guard over the monument.
“I drove past it and sat here for a little bit and there were a couple of people watching. Yeah, everyone is getting a little protective of this park now,” said Betts.
“There are other gentlemen from other posts that are checking too. If we all watch maybe we can get through this all together,” said Mader.
“It’s protected and we will do what we can to keep it that way,” said Betts.
