PEORIA — A member of the United States Navy for the past 10 years, Navy Lt. Kyle Thomas has served in many different areas of the country.

Nowhere in the United States has he met a better group of veterans than the ones he’s met in Central Illinois while serving at the Navy and Marine Corps Reserve Center in Peoria the past two years.

“I’ve been here for about two years and been working with veterans and the veteran’s organization and the community for the entirety of those two years and I haven’t seen a better veteran’s organization or group of veterans in my past 10 years being in the Navy than I do here in the Central Illinois area,” said Thomas. “It’s absolutely outstanding what they do as far as support to the active component site, the support that they give the reserves in the area and also the support they give the community.”
To show his appreciation to Central Illinois veterans, Thomas organized the construction of a dedication monument at the Navy and Marine Corps Reserve Center, 7117 W. Plank Rd., Peoria.
“I had an opportunity to build a new veteran’s dedication monument here on my command and I took advantage of it,” said Thomas.
Planning for the construction of the monument began in October of last year. Construction of the monument was completed on May 18.
The monument that sits under a large tree at the reserve center was unveiled May 19 during a dedication ceremony. State Senator Darin LaHood spoke briefly at the ceremony that other elected officials, members of the United States military, veterans, and general public attended.
The monument honors veterans from all five branches of military services. It is a large stone adorned with a bronze plaque and the seals of the various service branches. Two benches were placed near the monument for people to sit and reflect.
Several engraved bricks sit in front of the stone.
Thomas is selling the bricks for $40 a piece to help pay for the monument.
“The bricks are $40,” said Thomas. “You get 16 characters of three lines to put on the brick and you can put down whatever you want. You can put down a father or son’s information. You can put down somebody that’s passed away. You can put down your own information.”
Two days before the dedication ceremony, Thomas had sold around 200 of the 253 bricks that will eventually be mortared together in front the stone.
“They were in sand for the dedication ceremony,” said Thomas. “They won’t be mortared until all of them are filled up.”
Along with the money raised from the sale of the bricks, Thomas financed the construction of the monument through donations.
“We used the money that was extra from the brick engravings to buy the rock and buy the bronze plate and buy the benches and some other things,” said Thomas. “Some things were donated. The concrete was donated. The cement to put down the platform was donated.”
No taxpayer money was used in the planning or construction of the memorial.
To purchase a brick, call the reserve center at (309) 697-5755.