Oklahoma Territorial Plaza Veterans Memorial

The memorial rests on a concrete plaza and consists of seven polished black granite pillars, a flagpole, and four polished black granite benches for visitors to use to rest and reflect. The horizontally-oriented central pillar displays an American Eagle in flight, grasping a scroll in a talon and its beak. On the scroll are the words: “IN GOD WE TRUST”. Also displayed on the pillar are the words: “FREEDOM IS NOT FREE”, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard insignia, the wording: “IN HONOR OF THOSE WHO SERVED OUR COUNTRY IN TIME OF WAR AND PEACE”, and the wording: “OKLAHOMA TERRITORIAL PLAZA - DEDICATED NOVEMBER 11, 2014”. On the reverse side of the central pillar are the names of corporate sponsors, individuals, families, and businesses which sponsored the Memorial and made it possible. The six large vertically-oriented “Honor Roll” pillars bear the names of 1,109 veterans listed by conflict or service period. The periods include Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican War, Civil War, Spanish-American War, WWI, WWII, Korea, Cold War, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Persian Gulf, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraqi Freedom, Global War on Terrorism, and Peacetime. Veterans are represented for each conflict except: War of 1812, Mexican War, and Grenada. On the reverse side of one of the “Honor Roll” pillars is a memorial memorandum for a military training accident that took place near Perkins and deeply affected the members of that community. Inscribed are the words: “IN MEMORIUM. ON APRIL 27, 1951, A P-51D MUSTANG FIGHTER COLLIDED MIDAIR WITH A B-36D PEACEMAKER BOMBER SOUTH OF PERKINS DURING GUNNERY TRAINING EXERCISES”. Then, listed are the names of the 14 servicemen killed and the 4 survivors. At the base of the flagpole is a plaque inscribed: “FLAG POLE DONATED BY PERKINS VFW POST 7322 - FRANK DOLLINS COMMANDER”. Benches are situated in front of and behind the memorial and are inscribed to recognize sponsors. Representative is one that is inscribed: “DONATED BY PERKINS VFW POST 7322 – ARMY, NAVY, AIR FORCE, MARINES”.