Gwaltney and the Veterans Memorial

By Published by The Editorial Board

Published: June 29, 2008

Gwaltney worked hard for the Veterans Memorial

To the editor:

The veterans of Danville and Pittsylvania County owe a huge debt of gratitude to our retiring city manager, Jerry Gwaltney. He has been a friend to us and our families with his encouragement and support during the building of the Veterans Memorial in Dan Daniel Memorial Park.

I had not met Jerry Gwaltney before becoming involved with the memorial. During our first meeting — which included Korean War veteran Stokes Daniels and John Gilstrap, a Vietnam veteran and then-director of Parks, Recreation and Tourism — I was impressed with Gwaltney’s quick grasp of the memorial design and our plans for its future. He immediately understood the favorable impact a memorial of this type would have on the community, and he pledged his support to its construction. We knew before meeting with him that unless we had the blessing of the city’s leadership, building the memorial would be an impossible mission. His wholehearted acceptance of the plans and their intentions gave us great encouragement.

Soon thereafter, he invited Stokes and me to meet with him on the television program “City Manager’s Report.” That gave us our first opportunity to present the idea of a memorial to the public. To reinforce his pledge of support, at the end of the program he presented us with a completed form and a check to purchase a brick for the memorial’s walkway.

Until that time, I did not know that he, too, was a fellow veteran.

This one move not only gave us an opportunity to explain the components of the memorial, but also added much- needed assurance that the city was fully behind the effort. Brick sales soared, and we were well on our way to raising funds for construction. Before that construction began, Gwaltney assigned some of the most competent people that can be found anywhere to assist and guide with all aspects of construction management. Without these fine men and women — all very dedicated city employees — the memorial would never have been built.

I have lived in Danville my entire life and have been involved with construction since I was just a teenager. But I had no idea of the many skills and professions it takes to run a city the size of Danville. Under Gwaltney’s direction, we had all of their talents at our disposal during the planning and construction phases. These are some of the greatest people I ever have had the pleasure of working with in my lifetime.

When construction started, Gwaltney visited the site often, always asking if there was anything we needed or that he could do. He was always encouraging with never a negative remark — a real cheerleader from start to finish. We will probably never know all of the things he did behind the scenes — which is his style — to make this a lasting memorial to all veterans of all wars.

Mr. Gwaltney, on behalf of all veterans — especially those whose names are engraved in the memorial (and there are thousands of them) and the many heroes who are no longer with us — I say thank you for the many contributions you made in their honor. Generations to come will benefit from your vision and foresight for this community. May your many achievements here be a source of joy and contentment in a long future. May the Danville/Pittsylvania County Veterans Memorial rank at the very top. We are grateful.

DAVIS E. NEWMAN

Danville