The Pontiac Veterans Memorial Corporation (PVMC) will hold a dedication for the Pontiac Veterans Memorial on Saturday, June 7, 2008 at 11 a.m. at Perry Mount Park Cemetery, 878 N. Perry Street, Pontiac, MI. This living memorial, which currently honors 3,800 living or dead city of Pontiac veterans, will continue to grow as the list of Pontiac residents serving the United States grows.
The memorial project has been in the works since its inception in 1998 when the Pontiac Veterans’ Group set out to collect all the names of those honorable citizens who served since the American Revolutionary War. After talks with Perry Mount Cemetery, a location for the names was donated overlooking veteran burial plots.
The founding members of the PVMC felt it was important to involve the community in honoring these brave members of our city which is why, in 2000, PVMC asked the students from schools in Pontiac to create designs for the memorial. William Holland of Notre Dame High School is the artist of the selected memorial.
The memorial was paid for through donations from many in the community. Major donors include the Disabled American Veterans Pontiac Chapter 15, The Chrysler Foundation, General Motors Corporation, Laborers Local 1076 Labor Management Trust, Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital, United Auto Workers, Region 1, Tony Fillips and Wright & Filippis, Trinidad J. Martinez and Family and Russell P. Hill.
It is made of solid granite and consists of:
The Sphere of Unity – Representing the citizen/soldiers who, despite differences in social, ethnic, religious, or economic backgrounds, were unified by a common cause.
The Stalwart Columns – Representing the support these common everyday citizens lent to the cause.
The Walls of Honor – These two angled walls represent resistance to the enemies of freedom…from within or out. The walls bear the names of all whom unselfishly served from the community.
The public is invited to attend the dedication on June 7, the agenda is as follows:
Presentation of Colors – various veterans’ organizations
Raising flags – UAW Honor/Color Guard, Pontiac JROTC and the Oakland County Veterans Group
National Anthem – Jenee Quenones
Invocation – Pastor Leland Matlock, Calvary Missionary Baptist Church
Master of Ceremonies – Brigadier General John Kulhavi – retired
Confirmed Guest Speakers – Mayor Clarence Phillips
Congressman Joe Knollenberg
Lt. Gov. John Cherry, Jr.
Key Note Speaker – Mr. John Buttermore, General Motors Powertrain Vice-President of Global Manufacturing
Presentation and recognition of contributors
Dedication Ribbon Cutting – Jack Bressler, president of PVMC past and present board members
Rifle Salute – UAW Honor/Color Guard
Taps – Oakland County Veterans Group Honor Guard
Flag Folding Presentation – MAJ Maurice Morton, MI State Defense Force, Oakland County Veterans Group Honor Guard
Closing Comments – Jack Bressler, president - PVMC
God Bless America – Dr. Mayfield, Welcome Baptist Church Choir
Benediction – Rev. Sean E. Sylvester – St. Michael’s Catholic Church
Retiring of Colors
For more information of the memorial or the dedication ceremony please call Perry Mount Park Cemetery at 248-334-1563.
