Daughter feels dad’s presence at Wall of Honor
Lisa Watten visits the Veterans Wall of Honor twice a week to soak in her dad’s presence.
Vern Watten worked as a professional architect. His last work was dedicated to all veterans and the Bella Vista community.
Daughter Lisa Watten finds comfort in that.
“I go down there a lot,” she said. “I wear a Navy cap in honor of my dad.”
Watten moved from Minnesota to the village in 1997, to work as a guidance counselor for what was formerly known as Walton Junior High in Bentonville.
She knows full well how her dad painstakingly worked on a monument to honor veterans, an idea brought forward by Bella Vistan Leonard Eisert. Eisert’s brother had spearheaded the construction of a Wall of Honor in Mountain Home. The idea seemed fitting for Bella Vista, too.
Lead by the Veterans Council of Northwest Arkansas, the effort took root. Lisa Watten said her father spent four years, designing and working on the project, as others raised funds to construct it.
“It took four years, from start to finish,” she said. Her dad was 79 when he began working on the design, she added.
Members began to sell bricks to raise money. Anyone who served in the Revolutionary War to the present can be honored, Eisert said.
The council — first known as the Veterans Council of Bella Vista — changed its name to envelope a broader scope, Eisert, the board’s historian, said.
When the name was changed to encompass Northwest Arkansas, the group began to gain steam and garner more brick sales, Eisert said.
The monument, dedicated in November 2004, is unique in many ways. Eisert said the project’s architect decided on the circle because that symbolizes protection from enemies. Watten’s daughter concurs. “If you look at that circle shape, it’s a strong symbol that keeps
out the elements of destruction,” she said.
“It’s the strongest shape, as we understand physics,” she said.
It’s a tribute to his foresight and diligence that the monument still stands today, she added.
“He knew it would be there in perpetuity,” she said. “He wanted it par excellence.”
Her dad made several models. As a working artist, he would start with designs, build a model, then assess and revamp it, she said.
Watten worked on much larger-scale, professional projects. It was this tribute, however, that was near and dear to his heart.
“It’s a testament to his design,” she said.
Watten was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars his whole life. His service in the U.S. Navy was so important to him, she said.
Honoring all who have served — and highlighting that in the most respectful way — was his plan for the monument.
So many of the elements were well-thought, she said. From the overall design to the colors chosen, to the brick, the fountain, quotes and bronze ribbons, those elements symbolize “all things that are precious,” Watten said.
The neutral colors create a peaceful place for visitors to reflect and remember.
Community members find rest and solace there.
When she visits frequently, many people there are quiet, respectful and introspective, she said.
The monument creates peace for all who seek it, representing ideals such as liberty and the Constitution.
Her father embraced humanitarianism and wanted the monument to stand for all who had given their lives for others to enjoy their freedom, she said.
As others find comfort there, she, too, knows there’s something more than brick and stone when she visits.
“I feel his presence there constantly.”