Organizers are pushing forward with plans for a World War II memorial to be erected at Memorial Park in Royal Oak, with $3 million already raised for the project, according to The Daily Tribune.
A significant step was cleared recently, Catherine Kavanaugh reports, when state lawmakers designated the municipal park at Coolidge Highway and 13 Mile for a state monument honoring Michigan vets and home front contributions during that 1939-45 war. That adds legitimacy for seeking corporate sponsors.
Executives of Wright & Filippis, a home medical equipment supplier in Rochester Hills, said Thursday that it will donate support to what's called the World War II Legacy Memorial.
Cavanaugh spoke with Debi Hollis of Royal Oak, president of a nonprofit group beind the effort.
“We have a really lofty fundraising goal but so is our goal for this tribute to Michigan,” Hollis said. “We want to honor the servicemen and women, and show the contribution of the home front — everything from the huge production of tanks, weapons and aircraft to the life vests made in Petoskey and the iron ore mined in the Upper Peninsula.”
As part of the fund-raising, donors of $100 to $500 can buy inscribed bricks that will line a Walk of Honor ringing the memorial.
