As more men and women fall victim to the war on terrorism, the installation of a memorial plaque at Collingwood Park last month served to remind us that life changed drastically a year and a half ago when planes crashed into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and in a field in remote Pennsylvania.
The plaque, which was installed along with three trees, honors the memory of the four neighborhood men who were killed at the Pentagon and Corporal Matthew A. Commons, who was killed in Afghanistan.
The plaque reads:
"These trees were planted in memory of Captain Robert E. Dolan, Commander William J. Donovan, Mr. Terence M. Lynch and Colonel Gary Smith, local victims who perished on September 11, 2001.
We also honor the memory of Corporal Matthew A. Commons, who died defending his country in Afghanistan on March 4, 2002.
— Your Wellington Neighbors"
DIANE FRAZIER, who was the president of the Wellington Civic Association and is now the vice-president, said that they started the process of creating a memorial shortly after September 11.
It took a while to get approval, because the county wanted to limit the number of memorials. Joe Nielsen, Mount Vernon representative for the Fairfax County Park Authority, helped to move the process forward.
Frazier and others felt that they wanted a neighborhood memorial and moved ahead with it. She credits Richard DeCosta, owner of DeCosta Silkscreening, with the printing of the plaque, and Larry Hirsch with the donation of the stone. Also helping with the project were Leslie Paige, current Wellington president, and Sandy Sanders, former Vietnam veteran.
The memorial was installed without fanfare, but Frazier encourages everybody to go by and view it at Collingwood Park, which is located at 8200 West Boulevard Drive.