Iraq War veteran proposes new War on Terror monument in St. Joseph

St. Joseph City Commissioners are working with a Berrien County veteran to study the potential placement of a monument memorializing the Global War on Terrorism downtown.

At a meeting this week, commissioners were told the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board has been approached by Steven Phenegar about the idea of placing the monument in Lake Bluff Park. He’s an Iraq War veteran and told us how he got the idea.

“I was walking down the bluff and admiring the World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam [monuments], and one day I told my wife, I said, ‘Man, I wish we had one of these for our war.’ And she said, ‘Why don’t you look into it, give it a shot?’”

Phenegar says the Global War on Terrorism, or GWOT, was America’s longest war and he believes honoring the men and women who served in it would send a good message.

“I just think it’ll involve a lot of people. We have a lot of the GWOT veterans are kind of in their shells. You don’t see them as much at the VFWs and the American Legions and stuff that we go to, Lest We Forget. And so I really want to get them more involved and come out and say, hey, we can peek our heads out here too.”

City commissioners were told Monday a moratorium prohibiting the placement of new monuments in Lake Bluff Park has been in place since 1995. So, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board has requested that a subcommittee consisting of three parks board members and two city commissioners be formed to review the request and recommend a location for this new monument. The approach is similar to how a location for the city’s Martin Luther King Jr monument was found.

Commissioners Michael Sarola and Lisa Vetne volunteered to be on the subcommittee.

Phenegar told us he’s found excellent collaboration with city staff and the community as he plans the monument.

“This isn’t my world. So, everyone that we’ve worked with has been so approachable and willing to hear and getting behind it and supporting. And I’m really, really excited that we have a community like that, that’s that approachable to just a regular person to come up and say I think this is important, and there’s tons of people, there’s tons of ears listening.”

The new subcommittee will meet soon to discuss how it wants to proceed. Phenegar thanked the community for being open to the idea of the new monument.

Image: a rendering of what the monument could look like.