Though many Blaine County residents have served in the military, there is no countywide memorial to veterans who have been killed or are missing in action.
"This county has an illustrious and lengthy history of those who have served," said Rick Baird, Friedman Memorial Airport manager and a retired Army first sergeant and Vietnam veteran. "You'd be amazed at the things people in this county have done in service to their country."
County commissioners addressed the lack of recognition Blaine County military personnel receive at their regular meeting on Aug. 24, at which commission Chair Larry Schoen proposed the construction of a veterans' monument on county grounds.
Schoen said the idea arose from a conversation he had with Baird on a recent trip to Washington, D.C. Baird had a close friend, Jon Michael Sparks, a county resident with whom he fought in Vietnam and who was declared missing in action on March 19, 1971.
"One morning I got up and went to visit with him, and his entire unit was gone," Baird said. "I don't know of a single memorial, a plaque, anything that recognizes Mike's service."
The purpose of the monument would be to commemorate soldiers such as Sparks and show that the county as a whole respects their sacrifice.
"We don't forget about somebody who is still missing after 40 years," County Administrator Derek Voss said in last week's meeting.
The memorial is still in the planning stages, but a possible site identified last week was at the northwest corner of the Old Courthouse building in Hailey, where there is an empty cement circle. Both Schoen and Commissioner Tom Bowman said a monument could encompass the flags already flying on courthouse grounds.
The monument would require support and a good deal of fundraising, Schoen said.
"Frankly, these things can become quite expensive," he said in a later interview.
Members of the American Legion Hall Post 115 in Ketchum have already expressed support for the project, and Bowman and Schoen said they hope to involve the Blaine County Historical Society and possibly the schools and local artists.
A committee for the monument's design and construction is being formed, and Bowman said a monument could be in place as early as next summer.
Katherine Wutz: kwutz@mtexpress.com
Friedman Memorial Airport Manager and Vietnam veteran Rick Baird discusses the potential county veterans’ memorial with County Commission Chair Larry Schoen at one of the memorial’s possible sites, next to the Old County Courthouse in Hailey. The memorial would commemorate all of Blaine County’s military personnel who were killed or missing in action. Photo by Willy Cook
