USAF Memorial design gets initial approval

Photo by Carl Turner

Working Model - At 6-inches in height, the sculptor's maquette or scale model gives viewers an idea of the many elements that a finished memorial structure might include.

Carl Turner

A preliminary design was recently approved for the U.S. Air Force Memorial that will someday grace the Northern California Veterans Cemetery in Igo.

Sculptor Gideon Carl Turner III of Redding received a green light from the California Department of Veterans Affairs, signed by Secretary Peter J. Gravett, to finalize his working concept even as the memorial committee begins fundraising for a 14-foot tall bronze and stainless steel monument, a symbol of the Air Force’s history and mission.

The committee is hoping to have its memorial in place and dedicated sometime in 2013.

Titled “Into the Wild Blue Yonder,” the memorial will include a bronze globe 6 feet in diameter resting atop a 3-foot high pyramid with an 8-foot square base, Turner said. Encircling the globe and thrusting 6 feet to 8-feet upward will be a stainless steel contrail or aircraft path ending in a deltoid shape representing a futuristic aerospace vehicle.

The base represents the four winds and compass points. Each side of the pyramid will feature a different inscription including a memorial dedication, an explanation of the memorial’s symbolism, lyrics to the Air Force song and a brief history of the Air Force, explained retired Air Force Col. Peter Stiglich of Cottonwood, who is chairing a five-person committee to oversee the memorial project.

“The sphere depicts the earth and its continents. Attached to the United States are four talons of the Air Force’s mascot, a falcon. The talons represent the security of our country due to the Air Force’s strength. They morph into a single contrail encircling the sphere representing the global reach and mission of the Air Force to keep our nation free. After its elliptical course, the contrail soars skyward and departs the bounds of earth as a deltoid shape enters the heavens,” Stiglich writes in the project proposal.

An estimated $400,000 to $500,000 will be needed to erect the memorial and provide an endowment fund that will provide for its maintenance and care in perpetuity, Stiglich said.

“As a 26-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force, I am thrilled to be associated with this memorial project. it’s a real honor and privilege to be working alongside other veterans and civilians within the community who are dedicated to turning this vision into reality,” Stiglich said.

Sculptor Turner also designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial sculpture for the cemetery, will oversee the work of a Berkeley-based foundry to cast in bronze four sides of the pyramid’s base and a hollow bronze sphere as well as create the stainless steel contrail.

Although it will be the first service-oriented monument at the state-operated facility, it will likely not be the last, said Stephen Jorgensen, cemetery administrator.

“We included the concept of memorials for all five branches of service — the Air Force, Navy, Marines, Army and Coast Guard — along with this proposal and that concept has been approved by Secretary Gravett. Now we have a place for each service memorial and we have set parameters for height and size for all of them,” Jorgensen explained.

Arranged like the five points of a star around the cemetery’s main flagpole circle, memorials for each of the five service branches will be centered in a circular paved area incised with a white granite star, he said.

“What we are doing is creating a shrine to our Veterans, both living and dead,” Jorgensen explained. “It has never been my vision for this place to simply be a cemetery. A shrine must contain a variety of memorials where people can come to appreciate the history, sacrifice and military contributions of the countless veterans who have served our country to unselfishly.”

Jorgensen has a history of seeing the big picture.When he served for 13 years as the administrator of the Riverside National Cemetery, he helped facilitate creation of two national memorials, one honoring Congressional medal of Honor recipients and the other honoring prisoners of war and those who went missing in action.

“I’ve carried that same concept the entire time I have been here,” said Jorgensen, who helped open in 2005 the Northern California Veterans Cemetery, the state’s first such facility that is open to the public. Other state-funded cemeteries exist, but only serve residents of a particular nursing home or hospital facility, he said. Kellie Jokela, who chairs the Northern California Veterans Cemetery Support Board, said of the Air Force monument, “It is my extreme hope that we are able to continue these kinds of activities. The grounds are beautiful and reflect the respectful ambiance that we want for our fallen heroes.”

“I cannot think of a better way to show our appreciation for the dedication of those who served in the U.S. Air Force than to have a memorial erected in their honor,” Jokela said.