About the Memorial's design

by Dana Morissette, Design Artist

As I sat in that first meeting with the Vermont Fallen Families memorial committee and listened while they explained their hopes and dreams for a memorial that would honor their loved ones with the proper pride and reverence, I felt a need to contribute something, even if just to give some direction to their ideas.

That they have chosen my design is humbling. Let me describe it for you.

The entire memorial is made of select Barre gray granite quarried in central Vermont. The overall dimensions are: 38 feet wide, 44 feet long, and 6 feet high.

At the heart of the memorial stands a granite sculpture titled Falling Leaves. It consists of a semi-circular pedestal adorned with the five service emblems of the armed forces of The United States. Sitting on the pedestal is a life-sized field memorial featuring an M-16, helmet, boots and dog tags. In the background, there are relief carvings of a citizen soldier representing the patriotic spirit of Vermonters and the Vermont State House, which represents the constitutions, and freedom for which they fought. A maple tree grows up the side as leaves representing the Fallen Patriots fall to the ground.

In front of the field memorial stands a low sarcophagus etched with the names and representing the body of Vermont’s Fallen Patriots.

Surrounding the field memorial and sarcophagus are three semi-circular bench walls.

In the center of each bench wall stands a monolith. The monolith on the left is dedicated to all those from Vermont who have served in the Global War on Terror. It has a hand tooled War on Terror Service Medal. The monolith on the right is dedicated to the families of the Fallen and the great sacrifices they have made. It has a hand tooled Vermont Patriot’s Medal. The monolith at the back has a bronze dedication plaque and expresses the pride and sorrow of the citizens of Vermont.

Together the three monoliths—their family, their comrades, and their fellow citizens stand as sentinels ready to guard the sacred honor of the Fallen.

It is hard to imagine a more important project for a memorial designer; I thank the Vermont Fallen Families for the honor of contributing to their vision.