Fallen Warriors Memorial unveiled

Tuesday marked a day to honor veterans and also a day to celebrate the completion of a new memorial in Morgan City commemorating those soldiers from the Tri-City area who were killed or died in the line of duty.
Morgan City Mayor Frank “Boo” Grizzaffi said the Fallen Warriors Memorial unveiling Tuesday on the grounds of the Morgan City Municipal Auditorium was a big deal for the city and the entire Tri-City area.
“It is a first-class memorial that will not only serve as a constant reminder, but it will give a chance for families to come out and honor the veterans of the past and the present and especially those right here from home who made the ultimate sacrifice,” Grizzaffi said.
The memorial was built in a pentagon shape and includes statues depicting three soldiers; a World War I doughboy, a soldier representing World War II, Korea, and Vietnam G.I., and a modern day solider in Iraq and Afghanistan, Fallen Warriors Memorial Co-Chairman Terry Mayon said. The middle soldier, dressed in a G.I. uniform, is kneeling while handing an American flag to a young boy to represent the passing of the responsibility to protect our freedom to the next generation, Mayon said.
Behind the statues is a wall of honor with names of each soldier who was killed in combat and the names of soldiers who died of other causes while serving in a war. Benches surround the memorial. Area students Emma Hover, Mateo Landry and Omar Ledezma read the names of each soldier listed on the wall during the Veterans Day ceremony.
In 2011, Bruce Bordelon, whose son, 1st Sgt. Michael Joseph Bordelon, was killed May 10, 2005, in the Iraq war, had an idea to do some type of memorial to honor fallen warriors in the Tri-City area, Grizzaffi said.
Marc Distefano, co-chairman of the Fallen Warriors Memorial Project, eventually approached the mayor about creating a memorial to honor soldiers who had been killed in combat and asked merely for a place to put the memorial, Grizzaffi said. “He (Distefano) said I’m not asking for any money. I just need a place to put it,” Grizzaffi said.
Distefano told Grizzaffi that $150,000 needed to be raised to build the memorial, Grizzaffi said. The Community Foundation of Acadiana helped to get the project going because the group knew how to fundraise, the mayor said.
Distefano served 13 years in the army with two overseas deployments and retired from the army in 2009 with the rank of major. Distefano moved back to Morgan City in 2011.
Distefano, who was the keynote speaker for the ceremony, told the families of the fallen soldiers from the area that Tuesday’s ceremony was for them and thanked all of them for attending, he said.
Mayon, who served in the Air Force during Vietnam, has been Distefano’s 1st sergeant if not his sergeant major for the project, Distefano said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better person to do this,” Distefano said. “He’s become not just a mentor of mine. He’s also become a very close friend.”
Talking to Mayon and other veterans during the process has been “very therapeutic,” Distefano said.
Distefano and other organizers gave architect Carl Blum and Roy Carruba of Carruba Engineering the first drawings of their plans for the memorial on a napkin, he said.
Cindy Burleson sculpted the statues, and Britta Herzog drew an artist’s rendition of the project, Distefano said.
Including all of the services individuals and companies donated to the project, organizers raised a total of about $250,000 to build the memorial, Distefano said. About 40 percent of those donations came from families purchasing bricks to recognize loved ones who served in the military, he said.
As a veteran himself, Distefano said veterans just want an opportunity to be successful when they return to civilian life after their military service, he said. Distefano referenced the fact that organizers were able to raise the funds to build the memorial in a year, he said. “So if you think that was impossible, just think what we can do as a business community and as a community at large to support our veterans,” he said.