Star Group – VHV unveils bench at Veterans Cemetery

By BRITTANY FHOLER
Cove Leader-Press

The Star Group-Veterans Helping Veterans unveiled their new memorial bench at the dedication ceremony held Saturday morning at the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery. 
The bench was designed with help from Ronnie Viss of Scott’s Funeral home and sits on an 8-foot by 4-foot slab of concrete paid for by Pat Bernhard. SG-VHV members donated anywhere from $2 to $100 towards the purchasing of the bench, with those who donated $100 getting their names on a plaque hanging in the organization’s office. The process for the bench first began a year ago, according to SG-VHV president Jonathan Haywood. 
The dedication ceremony began with the singing of the National Anthem and “God Bless America” by Vonda Crump and Sheila Porter. 
State Representative (District 54) Scott Cosper shared a few remarks about the history of the cemetery and said how proud he was to have the cemetery in the district that he represents. 
“As we gather here today, I can’t help but look back and remember that this was once ranch land on the Fort Hood reservation and it has changed tremendously,” Cosper said. “It reminds me of when I was serving on the city council and great visionaries and community leaders saw an increasing veterans population here in Central Texas and recognized the need for this honorable resting place in this veterans cemetery.”
The cemetery was dedicated in October 2005 and will ultimately serve over 50,000 veterans, Cosper added. 
Other speakers included Copperas Cove mayor Frank Seffrood and Killeen City Council members Debbie Nash-King and Gregory Johnson. 
King, who is a lifetime member of Star Group-Veterans Helping Veterans, shared how her late husband, Elijah King, first met Haywood years ago, when he was outside the dollar store selling turkeys to raise funds to start the organization, now in its 10th year. 
“He started with a dream and that dream became a vision and now you see the reality of it,” King said. 
Arthur Bryant played “Taps” on the trumpet during the saluting of the SG-VHV wreath. After the ceremony was over, Haywood and Col. Henry Perry, Fort Hood Garrison commander, led the way on the walk to the bench. 
To get to the SG-VHV bench, one must pass by all of the other memorial benches and markers, which Haywood said was a way to pay tribute and give thanks to those organizations, which includes the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), American Legion, Military Order of the Purple Heart and the different units from Fort Hood. The bench is located next to memorials dedicated to those who lost their lives during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, Haywood said. Haywood called this area holy ground and said that they couldn’t have asked for a better location from the Lord. 
“It’s amazing to finally have something here that really- it turned out to be a Star Group-Veterans Helping Veterans legacy because it’ll be here even after we’re gone,” Haywood said. 
The walk to the bench “touches you because now you have to pass every organization that placed a bench in that walkway, so it’s like everybody paved the way for us to get to this point,” Haywood added.
Mayor Seffrood, who served three tours in Vietnam and two tours in Korea, said that this memorial bench is special because it acts as a recognition that the country has not forgotten those who have served. 
He added that it recognizes the men and women who “dedicated so much with so little recognition” and that the “seemingly small monument has a great value.”