History of Memorial Project

History of Memorial Project. . The first discussions of creating a memorial began in April of 2004 as the Kentucky Guard community struggled with the losses of Technical Sergeants Martin A. Tracy and Christopher Matero while training. That was followed by the deaths of Sergeant Darrin K. Potter in Iraq; Sergeant Glenn Scott Stanfill while training and First Lieutenant Robert L. Henderson II in Iraq., This was tempered with the growing body of research in preparation for the Bicentennial of the War of 18 12 that many Kentuckians who fought in the War of 18 12 were still buried in unmarked mass graves along many trails to and from Canada., Further evidence of the fleeting memory of the fallen continued to crop up with the discovery of other forgotten historical losses such as Sergeant Thomas J. Brown who died on state active duty in the Kentucky Guard response to the great flood of 1937., A few dedicated individuals took it upon themselves to not only rescue the fallen from the clutches of a forgetful history but also to ensure that the fallen from the Global War on Terror and any future losses would not be forgotten as have so many in the decades past., The next phase began in October 2008, when a group of friends and former members of the Kentucky Army and Air National Guard created a nonprofit corporation, the Kentucky National Guard Memorial Fund, Inc., to further the effort. The Memorial Fund was granted tax exempt status as a public charity 501 C (3) by the Internal Revenue Service in February 2009., The Memorial Fund had a simple mission then as now , Honor all those who have served as Kentucky citizen-soldiers and especially those who perished in the line of duty., As the effort matured and seriously tackled efforts to identify the Kentucky Guard men and women who died in line of duty, it soon became apparent that the research to document all those who perished from pre-statehood as members of the militia to present to include the Civil War would be impossible for volunteers in one lifetime. It quickly became apparent that the further back in history one looked, the scarcer documentation of the fallen was and the more difficult it became to know with any degree of certainty the names of those who should be honored., The board anguished over how to tackle the challenge, but finally struck a more achievable objective by focusing on the modern Kentucky National Guard. On March 19, 1912, Kentucky adopted federal legislation which mandated significant change including a name change from Kentucky State Guard to the Kentucky National Guard. Thus the board's effort was focused on designing, constructing and maintaining a memorial to honor our forgotten heroes and to educate our soldiers, airmen and the public of the history of the Kentucky National Guard., The effort to locate our fallen heroes was a major undertaking working with various individuals and organizations across the state. We were able to find many whose name and service had been all but forgotten. The effort to locate additional names will continue into the future., From the time Daniel Boone first came through the Cumberland Gap the predecessors of today's Kentucky National Guard have served to protect the lives and property of the citizens of what became Kentucky. Men and women from every county of Kentucky have served in the Kentucky National Guard and serve today., In order to honor that service and the sacrifice of those who have fallen in the line of duty , all 120 counties provided soil the Kentucky National Guard Memorial rests upon. Soil from across Kentucky supports this Memorial and provides a lasting link to their homes, families and communities as these men and women have supported and continue to support citizens across this Commonwealth.