A long-term project at a Manitowoc park has come to an end.
Ed Hansen, a member of the National Guard 32nd Red Arrow Division, explained to the Manitowoc Common Council that “the mission is complete,” meaning that all memorials and updates the group has done over the last 10 years at Red Arrow Park are finished.
Hansen explained that after his time in the military as part of the Red Arrow Division, he walked to Red Arrow Park after retirement and didn’t like what he saw. He said the park had some rusty cannons, a big rock with a bronze plaque, and a wooden sign in need of replacement.
“So I had three options,” he explained. “I could either dismiss, not pay any attention. I could go to the city and take the red arrow off the sign. And my third choice was to get involved, make a difference, and bring the story of the Red Arrow to Red Arrow Park.”
The nonprofit Friends of Red Arrow Park was created to revitalize the park, and Hansen soon found out that doing one big memorial wasn’t going to work.
So, the group decided to do several smaller memorials, all telling a story about the Red Arrow, with the project called Operation “Mourning Sun.”
One of the statues in the park about the Red Arrow was sponsored by the family of Al Steber, a WWII veteran.
A statue was ordered to replicate a WWII soldier kneeling with a plaque nearby with the history of Al on it.
A second and last soldier statue has since been installed to honor those who fought in the Global War on Terror.
The bronze statue shows the soldier presenting a flag, but there’s something different about it compared to the first statue.
“He (the sponsor) also wanted it to sit on a red granite base,” he described. “The problem is you can’t get red granite that size in the United States anymore. We had to order it from India, and it was very expensive. But the sponsor said, order it.”
Other projects included planting a tree in honor of a 9/11 victim who was an arborist from Hawaii, among others.
Hansen finished by thanking council members, city employees, and Mayor Justin Nickels for allowing the project to happen.
He says he will continue to come down to work and clean the park for as long as he can.
The Memorial is located along South 9th Street off of Jaycees Drive.
