The Cupertino Courier
Community
Fundraising continues for veterans memorial
By Cody Kraatz
The design for the Cupertino Veterans Memorial at Memorial Park, which the council unanimously approved, centers on a statue of two U.S. Navy SEALS poised for combat.
One of the figures represents Cupertino native Matthew Axelson, who was killed in Afghanistan in August 2005 with 18 other fighters. He attended Lincoln, Faria and Kennedy schools and graduated in 1994 from Monta Vista High School.
A low, sweeping "Wall of Honor" will flank the bronze statue, which was designed by Florida sculptor Sandy Proctor at slightly larger than-life-size scale. Organizers are looking for the names of people from the Cupertino community or who attended Cupertino schools who have died in military service.
U.S. Rep. Mike Honda and the branches of the military will also provide plaques for each branch of the service, said organizer Sandy James, a former Cupertino councilwoman and two-time mayor.
A "Walk of Remembrance" will carry visitors through the monument, with pavers sold for $250, $500 and $1,000 to honor anyone who served or is serving in the U.S. military.
The Cupertino Veterans Memorial Corp. still needs $275,000 to build the monument, and already has raised $125,000. Major donors will be mentioned on a granite plaque at the site.
"Our donors so far have really been individuals and small businesses. We did a golf tournament in August, and we netted $40,000 at that," said James. "In addition to that, the Korean community has given us $35,000, and most of that is from small businesses and individuals."
The Korean community has offered to pay the $75,000 cost of the second figure in the statue that represents Axelson's teammate James Suh, who died in a helicopter in the same incident. Suh's family lives in Benicia, organizers said.
Suh also represents the multicultural character of Cupertino, said Axelson's mother, Donna, a former teacher who currently works for the Cupertino Union School District.
"I'm hoping that the development and business communities will become big partners in this," said James. Vice Mayor Patrick Kwok expressed interest in paying the permitting fees out of the city's general fund.
Third- and fourth-grade students at Stevens Creek Elementary School recently raised almost $800 for the memorial, and other schools in Cupertino Union School District have similar projects under way.
In August 2005, Tony Banderman, who went through Cupertino schools with Axelson and was taught by his mother in fourth grade, presented a plan to the city council for a memorial to Axelson. At the time, the council decided a memorial open to all veterans would be more appropriate.
"I think that just speaks to the character of the Cupertino community and this council," Donna Axelson told the council, emotion bringing her to the brink of tears. "I think this memorial is going to be the most marvelous memorial in the country, and I'm just so excited to see it completed."
Project designers hope to unveil the memorial on a major patriotic holiday in 2007 such as Veterans Day or Memorial Day.
To serve as models for the statue, two active-duty Navy SEALS went to a company in Los Angeles that scanned their bodies in combat poses while wearing SEAL combat equipment, making the sculpture like war memorials in Washington, D.C.
The entire design team, which is volunteering its time, includes Cupertino's city architect Terry Green and landscape architect Paul Lettieri, whose work in the city includes Cali Mill Plaza at De Anza and Stevens Creek boulevards.
To learn more about the Cupertino Veterans Memorial or to make a donation, go to www.cupertinoveteransmemorial.org.
