A place to honor those who've died since 9/11
A sign marks the future site of the Patriot Park Memorial along the Lincoln Highway on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018 in Stoystown, Pa.

A place to honor those who've died since 9/11

For 27 years, Jim Chapman has been a member of The American Legion. After years in the Department of Virginia, where he served as department commander from 2015-2016, he moved back to his former home of Pennsylvania and transferred his membership to Post 911 in Shanksville.

Chapman believes it’s fate that brought him back to Pennsylvania, to a post that in 1946 was chartered with a number that carries much more significance today than it did prior to Sept. 11, 2001. To a post that is located in the borough where hijacked United Flight 93 was brought down by a passenger revolt before it could hit its target: the U.S. Capitol. And to his current project: helping establish a memorial less than three miles from Flight 93 National Memorial to honor all those killed in the wars that resulted from the terrorist attacks.

Chapman and other Post 911 Legionnaires are part of a group working to create Patriot Park, which would provide a place for visitors to both honor and learn about military personnel killed during the Global War on Terror just west of the entrance to the Flight 93 National Memorial.

“I think we have to have a place to honor the Global War on Terror guys who have lost their lives,” said Chapman, who lives within the park boundaries of the Flight 93 National Memorial. “That’s why I got involved. I’m one of these guys that thinks you’re meant to be somewhere for a certain reason. We moved up (to Pennsylvania) out of the clear blue. I got to thinking that everybody is meant to do something. Maybe this is what I’m meant to do: help get this off the ground.”

Chapman heard about the project through his brother Carl, who is a close friend of Randy Musser, the man behind the idea for Patriot Park. The owner and president of Musser Engineering in nearby Central City, Musser owns the 15 acres upon which the memorial would be built.

Musser’s father was a Korean War veteran, while his son-in-law did two tours of duty in Afghanistan with the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division.

“I grew up right at the end of that Vietnam era but never served,” Musser said. “I had a draft number when I graduated from high school … but never got drafted. Through the end of the ‘60s when I was in high school and as I got out of college, I always felt terrible about Vietnam veterans … and how the vets got treated. That always bothered me.”

After purchasing the land within the Flight 93 memorial boundaries, Musser started pondering ways to develop the area. “I got to thinking about what we can do with the property … and how can we use this to honor folks who have served in the Global War on Terror,” he said. “And the fact that it’s in the Flight 93 memorial where we have a memorial for the 40 people that died on Flight 93 – who are often referred to as the first combatants in the Global War on Terror – that seems to tie into the military actions that our country has undertaken since that date. It seemed like a fitting place to maybe honor our Global War on Terror veterans and those who have died for our country since 9/11.”

Musser began reaching out to local veterans and said he “got a sense they’d love to see something like that happen.” Musser has set up a non-profit foundation, Patriot Park Foundation, and now is part of a group pursuing funding options for the memorial. The goal is to raise $25,000 by November and $100,000 by April to do “all the legwork.”

Members of Post 911 already have contributed money to the cause, while Bob Munhall, Post 911’s membership chairman and immediate Past District 24 commander 1, spread the word through American Legion posts throughout the district. “This is one of the Four Pillars of The American Legion: Americanism,” Munhall said. “Americanism encompasses patriotism.”

Through its website, Patriot Park has the mission of honoring “our Global War on Terror Armed Forces and their families for their sacrifice to preserve and protect our freedom; to share with Patriot Park visitors, through stories and displays, the actions our military personnel so courageously carry out; and to raise awareness of their continued need for our support.”

The park will feature Gold Star pavers inscribed with names, hometowns and dates of those who have died during the Global War on Terror. Displays and storyboards surrounding the memorial and in the site’s education center will honor those killed and their families. A battle cross and statue of a kneeling soldier also will be a part of the memorial. Musser said he’s already received the blessing of those in charge of the Flight 93 memorial.

“It’s hard for me to believe that someone could walk over those names and not be humbled by what they see and really not get a sense of the loss that this country, those individuals and their families have experienced,” Musser said. “And I think there’s the opportunity for organizations to add memorials, tributes, whatever to this park.”

Musser said Patriot Park also will be designed to not be a static memorial. The storyboards around the memorial will “tell the story of people who have served. The stories of their families,” he said. “And the other purpose of Patriot Park is … raise awareness of the needs of both the families of those who have lost loved ones, and then also the needs of those who have served and come back with injuries, whether they be physical or mental.”

The park is a cause in which Chapman strongly believes. “I’m dedicated to it,” he said. “I believe in what (Musser) started. I think it will be memorable place for people to come and honor those guys and gals that lost their lives.”

For more information on Patriot Park, click here.