Veteran raising funds for memorial

Eagle statues to be placed at Othello gardens

OTHELLO - An Othello man is raising funds associated with the placement of two eagle statues at the veterans memorial in Bess Hampton Memorial Gardens in Othello.

Post Commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 8889 Tommie Tindell, purchased two eagle statues he saw in Spokane because he decided he wanted to place them at the memorial garden site.

The eagle statues are on display inside Othello City Hall.

The 40-inch tall eagles weighing roughly 200 pounds each have a wingspan of approximately 35 inches and will be perched on concrete pedestals, he said. The eagles will be permanently attached to the pedestals to prevent theft.

"I feel it gives the veterans in our area something to be proud of," Tindell said.

Eventually the cemetery site will get bigger, he said. There is already a wall depicting names of war veterans featured on bronze plates at the cemetery. He hopes to add additional walls featuring the names of veterans who died from the Othello area.

Tindell said funds donated to the eagle project will pay for maintenance and future additions to the memorial site.

Each year he helps with the memorial service in May at the memorial site. He said a ceremony is planned for next Memorial Day to dedicate the eagles.

Tindell's affiliation with veterans stretches back to when he served the U.S. Air Force in Korea in the 1950s.

Tindell said he retired from the Air Force and moved to Othello in 1967. He raised two sons who served the Air Force and has a daughter-in-law who was involved with the Air Force.

"We're an Air Force family," he said.

Donations for the memorial can be sent to P.O. Box 10 in Othello, care of Tindell.