About 175 people were in attendance Sunday when residents of the Hoffman area dedicated a Veterans Memorial in Hussman Park.
The fundraising for the project began in 2017 when The Trinity Lutheran School in Hoffman provided $1,000 in chapel offerings to start the fundraising effort.
The dedication passage on the monument reads, “We dedicate the Hoffman Veterans Memorial as a lasting symbol of the courage, patriotism, sacrifice and honor of all who have served. Let it forever remind us to mourn our dead; reach out to our wounded and come together to remember and honor our brave warriors. Their duty was to serve. Our duty is to remember. May we never forget their service and their sacrifice.”
Speakers included Agnes Boehning of rural Hoffman who joined the Air Force in January 1981 as a Medical Officer and served in various roles including deployment during Desert Storm. She retired after 20 years in 2001 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Rachele Smith of Bartelso was involved in various missions after graduating as a Distinguished Military Graduate from Eastern Illinois University and commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Medical Service Corps in 1992. After retiring from the Army as a Colonel, she worked as a Director for the Warrior Care Network for the Wounded Warrior Project before returning back home to give back to the communities that had given so much to her throughout her career. Retired Clinton County Treasurer and Vietnam veteran Ferd Mueller also address the audience.
The Beckemeyer American Legion provided a 21 gun salute and the Carlyle Boy Scouts were also on hand to lead the Pledge of Allegiance.
