The 125-foot-long pole that will support the city’s Patriot Memorial Flag will be arriving in town during the third week in May from U.S. Flag and Flagpole Supply of Wimberly, Texas. The company will deliver the pole in five sections to the site of the Korean War Memorial in Fairmont, where it will be welded together and then erected by a crew from City Crane and Equipment of Morgantown.
Then, on Flag Day, June 14, a 30-by-50-foot American flag will fly atop the pole for the first time. A dedication ceremony is being planned for that day, with details to be announced at a later date.
“We’re very excited that we are finally able to get the flagpole here and raise this flag as a tribute to all of the people past and present who have served in our nation’s military,” said Beth Fuller, president of Your Community Foundation (YCF), which manages an endowment fund that made the flag project possible. “We were able to get this accomplished because of some recent donations of $10,000 from the West Virginia Fraternal Alliance and $5,000 from the Fairmont Rotary, with a $5,000 matching donation still to come,” she said.
“We’re also grateful that City Crane will be donating the crane for the installation.”
The project was started three years ago by Marion County Chapter 163 of the Korean War Veterans Association as a complement to the Korean War Memorial, currently being built at the East Marion County Park in Fairmont. Rick Hardman, who designed the project, said the huge flag on the 125-foot pole will be the largest displayed American flag in the area.
In fact, clearance had to be obtained from the Federal Aviation Administration because of the height. “This flag will be a symbol of local pride and patriotism that people will be able to see, night and day, for many, many years to come,” Hardman said. “The presence of this large flag flying atop a hill a total of 170 feet above the I-79 corridor will be an awesome site for those traveling north and south through our region.”
Hardman, a Vietnam veteran, said he was inspired by the story of two men who traveled the country in 2011 flying a large “Patriot Flag” in all 50 states, and ending their trip at the 911 memorial site in New York. “I decided to use the ‘patriot’ name after reading their story and talking with them,” he said. “This is a way for us to continually show our own patriotism, so we named our project the Marion County Patriot Memorial Flag.”
In 2011, an endowment fund was started through YCF, a non-profit regional philanthropic organization that collects contributions and invests the funds to increase their value. Net income from those investments will be used in the future to purchase new flags, which will need to be replaced as often as four times a year because of weather and normal wear.
To get the construction started, a concrete foundation was built for the massive flagpole with funds provided by the Korean War Veterans Memorial Fund. Additional money was obtained to pay for fabrication and installation of the flagpole and floodlights to illuminate it. The Marion County Parks and Recreation Commission has agreed to provide care and maintenance of the flags and pole.
“We still need contributions to help build this endowment to the level that it will support the purchase of new flags every year,” Fuller said. “We hope that individuals, organizations and businesses in the area will continue to contribute to this project, which is going to be a great thing for Marion County and the entire state of West Virginia.”
Tax-deductible contributions in any amount should be made to the Patriot Memorial Flag Fund in care of YCF, P.O. Box 409, Morgantown, WV 26507. Donors can make memorial contributions to honor an individual at the gold level ($1,000), silver level ($500) or bronze level ($100). Those donations will be recognized on a plaque to be placed on the concrete base of the flag.