By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

More than 50 Marion County veterans attended a Friday meeting at Florence’s American Legion to discuss a memorial at the county lake.

Speakers included Ida French, chairman of Marion County Veterans Memorial; Rodger Charles, Peabody librarian, who undertook a veterans memorial painting at the library; and Doug Westerhaus, former county attorney who now lives in Overland Park.

Among those attending were the American Legion’s department commander Jeremy Ehart, and his wife, Kristy, who were traveling from Leavenworth and Area vice commander Mike Jury.

After a reading of the poem, “In Flanders Fields,” she talked about how the memorial had been proposed by a group of veterans, not by the Veterans of Foreign Wars or the American Legion.

Westerhaus read a speech that his father, Pat, gave for a Memorial Day event in 1947. The speech addressed sacrifices made by soldiers and the importance of remembering those who served.

Charles talked about stories the library had learned from Peabody Township soldiers.

He encouraged the veterans to tell their stories.

“Yes, it’s your story, but it doesn’t belong to you alone,” Charles said. “It belongs to the community.”

To raise money for the memorial, bricks will be sold for $100, $200, and $500. Donations are being accepted at Marion National Bank.