VANDALS ATTACK VETERANS MEMORIAL IN ESCONDIDO, CALIFORNIA
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Vandals attack tribute to veterans at Grape Day Park
By: DAN SIMMONS - Staff Writer
'Wall of Courage' official: 'We'll catch 'em'
ESCONDIDO -- The bronze statues and stone plaques on the wall behind them pay tribute to soldiers, sailors and Marines who protect the nation in times of peril.
Now, the statues and "Wall of Courage" at Grape Day Park need protection, too -- and are getting it from some of the very veterans they honor.
Vandals attacked the two-month-old tribute on or about Jan. 7, said police Lt. Bob Benton, loosening from its base a 200-pound bronze statue of a woman dressed in a pilot's uniform, tearing down a sign thanking the community for its support and tagging the sidewalk and one of the walls with graffiti.
The bronzed pilot still stands but wobbles a bit on her base and has a couple nicks on her left thigh and the graffiti was cleaned off by a city crew. Police have no suspects but are reviewing nearby security cameras tapes, Benton said.
Tribute publicist Marty Tiedeman vowed not to forget the vandalism and promised stepped-up efforts to prevent another attack.
"We need to let the vandals know we'll catch 'em," she said. "The victims are each of the people who purchased this."
The tribute is lit 24 hours a day and is under constant video surveillance, she said. During the day, it's patrolled by city park rangers. At night, security guards with the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, do roaming patrols.
And since the attack, the tribute has new protection: veterans themselves. A small group who heard of the vandalism has taken turns keeping vigil in front of the tribute overnight, Tiedeman said.
"He feels real responsible for it," Tiedeman said of one of the veterans.
The tribute, dedicated last Nov. 11, arose out of similar grass-roots community support, she said.
A class of special education students at Oak Hill Elementary in Escondido had the idea for the tribute, and spent more than three years collecting 1 million pennies to pay for a part of the $125,000 project. Veterans organizations, private philanthropists and the Escondido City Council contributed the rest of the funds.
Artist Gale Pruitt spent at least six days a week for a year designing and sculpting the statues, she said. They sit on a blue granite base dug from National Quarry in San Marcos. It coincidentally weighs 911 pounds, which Pruitt's husband, Bob, said only reinforces the patriotic feel.
"Here's three veterans standing on something that weighs 911 (pounds)," he said. A plaque is planned to explain the coincidence, he said.
The bronze female pilot stands both for the contribution of military women and for all veterans who served in the past, Gale Pruitt explained at its unveiling last November on Veterans Day. Next to the woman is a tall man in combat dress, representing everyone now serving in the armed services. That soldier's left arm is outstretched toward a young man wearing an ROTC uniform.
Pruitt explained that the outstretched arm has its own meaning.
"He is giving the power to the ROTC student," she said.
Tiedeman noted that the project was a nonprofit and is being funded in part by the hundreds of people who've bought $250 tiles to honor a veteran, past or present.
"It belongs to the community," she said. "We're not going to tolerate it being vandalized."
-- Contact staff writer Dan Simmons at (760) 740-5426 or dsimmons@nctimes.com.
Want to buy a tribute tile?
"Wall of Courage" organizers are taking orders for tiles dedicated to living or dead veterans. Each tile costs $250 and will bear the veteran's name. A new wall of tiles will be dedicated July 4th, with more to come as the orders come in, said tribute publicist Marty Tiedeman. To order, call Tiedeman at (760) 743-1474 or contact artist Gale Pruitt at galepruitt@nethere.com.
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