War for Texas Independence Memorial Dedication
“Come and Take It” to be unveiled
September 27, 2010 – College Station, Texas. The Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial Board of Directors will dedicate the “Come and Take It” statue on the LYNN STUART PATHWAY military history walk Saturday, Oct. 2 at 10:00 a.m. The event takes place on the 175th anniversary of the first military engagement of the War for Texas Independence, the Battle of Gonzales. The pathway is at Veterans Park and Athletic Complex between Harvey and University Drives, ••• mile east of Hwy. 6. Kenneth Howell, PhD, from the Department of History, Prairie View A&M will be the guest speaker.
The Memorial site within the park honors all American veterans from throughout our nation’s history and includes the War for Texas Independence. The new pathway is a ••• mile concrete history walk that will eventfully have a memorial for all 17 US wars and the War for Texas Independence. This pathway was constructed with financial assistance from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Trails Grant program. Each site and memorial will be funded through community and corporate donations. Funding for the War for Texas Independence site and the “Come and Take It” statue was provided by Fain and Janie Grant McDougal and the Dansby Grant Foundation in honor of their maternal relatives Valentine Bennet and Henry McCulloch, veterans of the War for Texas Independence.
“Come and Take It” is the second statue to be dedicated along the ••• mile walking path at the 12 acre Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial. The path is named for the late Brigadier General Louis Lynn Stuart, Jr., A&M Class of 1952, who was a founding member and president of the Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial. Navasota artist J. Payne Lara created the life size bronze statue as well as the “Liberty or Death” statue dedicated last July.
The Texas site will be of greater significance because of the scattering of small amounts of soil from historic locations in Gonzales, Goliad, San Jacinto, Washington and San Antonio. An 1836 Liberty dime, a 2004 Texas quarter, and a 2010 National Parks coin commemorating Hot Springs, the first National Park which was reserved in 1832, were placed in the concrete base of the statue. The coins were provided by Lou Hodges and Steve Beachy. Members of the Buckners Creek Cannoneers will be on hand with a twin sisters cannon, vintage long guns and hand guns on display. Anna Kellett, president of the Robert Henry Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, contributed a Texas flag that flew over the Alamo on March 2, 2010. For more information: Anne Boykin, 979.450.3296 or aboykin@cstx.gov. Or visit our website at www.bvvm.org.
