Retired Col. Hal Fritz, who was awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War, speaks at a groundbreaking ceremony Saturday at the Peoria County Courthouse Plaza for a new veterans memorial that will honor Peoria County veterans who have served since World War II as well as though that will serve in the future. (Photo by Elise Zwicky / for Chronicle Media)

Retired Col. Harold “Hal” Fritz told a crowd at the groundbreaking for a new veterans memorial in downtown Peoria Saturday that as American patriots, “we must do all we can to leave a legacy reminding future generations of the price that was paid to guarantee a country of continued freedom.”

Titled “Final Salute,” the new memorial at the Peoria County Courthouse Plaza will honor thousands of Peoria County veterans who’ve served in the U.S. military since World War II.

The new memorial will be located on the center section of the Courthouse Plaza facing Adams Street between the Civil War and the World Wars I and II memorials. Construction is expected to begin next spring.

“This memorial is a fitting tribute to Peoria County men and women that served with distinction and sacrifice,” said Fritz, a member of the Peoria County Veterans Memorial Committee and one of only 77 living Americans to be awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor.

Granite plaques will list the names of 233 Peoria County veterans who lost their lives in Korea, Vietnam and other major conflicts, including Grenada, Panama, the Gulf, Somalia, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan and the war on terrorism.

Retired Col. Hal Fritz and Peoria City Councilman Eric Turner (center) and Vietnam veteran Bruce Thiemann and Korean veteran Walter “Pete” Williams (left) turn shovels during a groundbreaking ceremony Saturday at the Peoria County Courthouse Plaza for a new memorial that will honor veterans from the Korean and Vietnam wars, as well as other major conflicts since then, including the continuing war on terrorism. (Photo by Elise Zwicky / for Chronicle Media)

“Like the World War I and World War II memorial, there was no place in Peoria where all those names were listed,” Peoria County Clerk Steve Sonnemaker, who spearheaded the project, said prior to the groundbreaking ceremony.

“We have over 800 names on the World War I and II memorial, so we’re up to more than 1,000 souls lost defending our country just from Peoria County. How lucky we are to have the life that we have in this country, and we owe it all to them,” he said.

Casualties from Korea, Vietnam and the war on terrorism total 102,241 Americans to date, Fritz said.

Sonnemaker and the Peoria County Veterans Memorial Committee—which Fritz called “the memorial combat platoon”–have been working on the Final Salute since 2012.

About 60 veterans and supporters turned out for the ceremony, braving a brief downpour during the event. Six veterans were scheduled to ceremoniously turn the dirt with shovels but they invited other veterans in the crowd to join them.

“I didn’t expect that,” said Korean War veteran Walter “Pete” Williams, commander of the Korean War Veterans Association Chapter 243 in Bartonville, who joined about 15 veterans in turning the shovels. “This memorial means a lot to us.”

In addition to plaques listing the names of Peoria County casualties of war, the new memorial will initially have two statues. One is being commissioned to represent a Korean War soldier. The second one, which represents a soldier from the Vietnam War, is being donated by Wildlife Prairie Park.

The memorial is designed in such a way that allows for the addition of future names or conflicts, if necessary, and additional statues if funding becomes available.

“The Final Salute memorial provides the visitor a unique perspective. The boots-on-the-ground statues will represent all five services returning to home base after the final patrol, the final mission. It will represent both the trooper and the soul of the trooper finally leaving the fields of combat and returning to family and loved ones,” Fritz said.

The committee has raised nearly $352,000 so far, but hopes more funds will be donated to allow for one or two more statues.

“It’s never easy to raise funds, but with the World Wars I and II memorial, practically everyone had a relative that served,” Sonnemaker said earlier. “Today less than five percent of the population serves in the military. I think Vietnam and Korea probably impacted a lot of people, but currently there aren’t that many people who serve, so I think that kind of affects our ability to raise funds.”

Peoria County State’s Attorney Jerry Brady, the program’s master of ceremonies and an advisory member of the committee, asked the community to consider donating to the project.

“I think it’s critical that you’re aware of where we are financially. At this time we have funds available through donations and funding where we can have two of our four monuments. I ask all of you, and I ask you to ask your relatives and friends, to please continue to give to help us finish the Final Salute.”

Donations for the Final Salute can be made through the website www.peoriacounty.org/auditor/veteransmemorial. Donors can also buy an engraved brick for $150 to have placed around the memorial. A larger $500 engraved block is also available. Either size can be inscribed with a message of the donor’s choice. For more information, call (309) 672-6006.

“An engraved brick honoring a loved one makes a great Christmas present,” Sonnemaker said. “We give you a certificate you can give on Christmas day showing how the brick will be engraved. It would be a great way to help the project and honor a loved one.”

— memorial offers Final Salute to those who served since World War II —