A Soldier Carved in Stone

A Soldier Carved in Stone. . , FROM JOHN RENO'S STRUGGLE CAME A SOLDIER CARVED IN STONE, The stone sculpture that lies at the center of this memorial replaces the original that occupied the same spot from 2000 to 2017. Deterioration of the earlier sculpture resulted in a decision to replace it., The new carving by Don Ramey of West Rutland was dedicated on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2017. It recalls the earlier work begun by Vietnam veteran John Reno., John had struggled with depression and recurring flashbacks following his Vietnam service. Begun in 1981, the sculpture became a means for John to work through his anger and pain. But after he died suddenly in a boating accident in 1982, his artistic vision of a soldier lay neglected for years in a Castleton gravel pit., A fellow Vietnam-era veteran, John Bergeron, later unearthed the incomplete sculpture, which became a focal point for the memorial after Don Ramey completed it. Don was therefore the logical choice to carve the replacement. The new sculpture includes some changes designed to more specifically suggest the American GI of the Vietnam era., This memorial was sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 1, based in Rutland, whose first members were among Reno's close friends. The memorial was made possible by the generous contributions of scores of businesses and individual supporters and was dedicated on Memorial Day, 2000., [Photo captions, top and bottom, read] , . John Reno, whose vision of a marble relief carving of a soldier became the basis for the Rutland County Vietnam Veterans Memorial., . Don Ramey completed the original sculpture for this memorial, as well as the replacement you see today.