A new Gold Star Families Memorial Monument honoring the families of servicemen and women who sacrificed their lives while serving in the military is currently being planned at Fort Campbell.
A news release says the effort is being led by Kelli Pendleton, who is a civilian aide to the secretary of the Army for Kentucky and Charlie Koon, a 2019 Champion of Fort Campbell.
Pendleton said she learned of the memorial from a discussion with a fellow aide who is a gold star wife.
Pendleton says, “Although these beautiful memorials have been constructed in areas all across the country, there is not one near Fort Campbell and I felt that needed to be rectified. It made sense that this be a regional effort so I reached out to Charlie because of all the work he had done at the Survivor Outreach Services office on post.”
Pendleton and Koon are working through the Woody Williams Foundation on this project. The Foundation’s Assistant Director of Programs, Cindy Stonebraker who is from the local area, lost her father in Vietnam. She along with local Gold Star Wife Nancy Mullen are serving as advisors on the project.
A website has been created to educate the public and potential donors about the Gold Star Families Memorial Monument and contributions can be made on the site at: http://hwwmohf.org/monuments/ft-campbell-ky.html
Koon and Pendleton are hoping to unveil the monument next fall.