Stonington ― After more than three years of planning, fundraising and community collaboration, veterans, officials and residents gathered outside the police department Wednesday for the dedication of the new Stonington Veterans Monument.

“I think this is much appreciated by veterans and the families of those who didn’t come home,” said Lt. Col. Glenn Frishman, a former Board of Finance member and retired Army helicopter pilot.

“It’s so emotional to have it; it’s so emotional for the people who dedicated their time and service to do this,” added resident John Gomes, a retired Navy yeoman who served in Vietnam.

Gomes said he has always loved the memorial at the Town Hall, but said the new eight-sided granite monument was important because it incorporates service members through the present day.

The monument project, originally proposed by Korean War Army veteran Anthony Lombardo and spearheaded by First Selectman Danielle Chesebrough’s executive administrative assistant Stacey Haskell, recognizes veterans who have served in the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines, National Guard, Navy and Space Force.

Local artists created artwork for the eight ceramic panels incorporated into the monument representing themes of sacrifice, war, connection, lifesaving, homecoming, honor and humanitarian effort. An eighth panel welcomes visitors to the monument.

The monument fuses art with technology using Near Field Communication technology, which allows visitors to put their smartphone near the monument and access a website containing the names of more than 6,000 Stonington veterans, who have served in the military since World War I, as well as digital media and video interviews.

Former Congressman and First Selectman Rob Simmons, who is a retired Army colonel, said technology is part of what makes the monument so special. He pointed to the ability to view videos of veterans telling their stories on the monument’s linked website, saying, “it becomes living history.”

“From the time of the Battle of Stonington (in 1814) to this day, we have stories; we have deeds, and we have pictures, and we have ideas that flow through the centuries, and right now, right in this place, you are the keepers of the flame,” Linda Schwartz, the former commissioner of the state Department of Veterans Affairs and a retired Air Force colonel, told the veterans in the crowd.

Chesebrough said the monument, which is a joint effort between the town and the Harley P. Chase Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1265 in Pawcatuck, is also the result of a collaboration between various departments including the town’s beautification committee, the Board of Finance and the Public Works Department, as well as community members and business owners.

Chesebrough said the $200,000 project was made possible by more than 400 community donations ranging from $1 to $20,000 as well as grants, sponsorships and town support.

“This is really a special thing that we’ve done here today, and we will continue to raise money to sustain it into the future,” Simmons said.

The monument surpassed its initial fundraising goal of $138,000, and the Board of Finance approved the use of $86,420 in American Rescue Plan funds for the remainder of the project cost.

Editors note: This version updates the number of panels created by local artists.