Salisbury celebrates restored 1955 War Memorial

SALISBURY, Md. – On Memorial Day local veterans and county officials celebrated the restoration of the 1955 War Memorial in Salisbury.

“We are rededicating this space that was dedicated in 1955 in remembrance of those who sacrificed their lives in war in defense of our democracy,” said Mayor Jake Day.

It is a memorial that has stored the names of more than a hundred Wicomico County service men who died in the line of duty. That is why hundreds of hands came together to make this restoration happen.

“We’ve spent the last three years putting together a team, a committee of citizens, community organizations, veterans groups and businesses and getting donations, contributions and time service in order to make the improvements that you see,” said Day.

Jeff Merritt founder of Operation We Care helped lead this community project. He said the memorial had deteriorated significantly over the course of time so it was in much need of a facelift.

“Concrete was cracking, the irrigation system was not functioning properly, so we wanted to get ahead of it before it completely went downhill,” said Merritt.

Although it took several years to bring this memorial back to life local veterans like Jim Jester said they do not mind. That is because the effort to restore this memorial shows them that soldiers who sacrificed everything will not soon be forgotten.

“I had a friend I went to high school with that died in Vietnam Donny Evans up in Milford and it means a lot to remember these people,” said Jester, a U.S. Army Veteran.