Medal of Honor center eyed for Coolidge Park
The Chattanooga park named for Medal of Honor recipient Charles Coolidge could someday house a monument to him and others whose courage earned them the nation’s top military honor.
Retired Maj. Gen. Bill Raines and representatives from what used to be the Medal of Honor Museum pitched the idea Wednesday to Hamilton County commissioners and will go before the Chattanooga City Council, as well.
Both those bodies’ agreement would be needed to lease a two-acre site on the eastern side of Coolidge Park, across from the Chattanooga Theatre Centre, for what will be called the Charles H. Coolidge Medal of Honor Heritage Center.
Plans call for a two- story building housing exhibits related to the Medal of Honor and its recipients, set in a plaza and including an amphitheater.
“We believe it completes Coolidge Park,” said Jim Wade, executive director of the Medal of Honor Heritage Center.
Raines noted the very existence of the Medal of Honor has local roots: President Abraham Lincoln created the medal in 1862 to honor members of the Andrews Raiders. Union civilian spy James J. Andrews came up with
a plan to steal a locomotive north of Atlanta and drive north through Chattanooga, destroying tracks and bridges behind him to block Confederate forces.
The Great Locomotive Chase, as it became known, ended in failure — the Confederates caught and executed eight of the raiders — but lives on in legend. Nineteen Medals of Honor were awarded as a result of that action, and six of those recipients are buried in Chattanooga National Cemetery. Another 33 medals came out of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga fighting in 1863, Wade said, including the only female recipient, Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, a civilian Civil War surgeon who cared for female prisoners.
Three soldiers from the area were awarded the blue ribbon and inverted gold star during World War II:
Army Pfc. Desmond Doss, of Rising Fawn, Ga., the only conscientious objector ever to receive the medal, by rescuing wounded men amid enemy fire on Okinawa;
Army Cpl. Paul Huff, of Cleveland, Tenn., who singlehandedly destroyed a machine gun nest in Italy and led his men to safety;
Army Tech Sgt. Coolidge, who led men in fending off four days of German attacks on his French position and then withdrew his troops safely.
Raines said retired Gen. B.B. Bell will lead the capital campaign to raise money for the project — the amount was not discussed, and Wade said that goal will be announced later — and all the group is asking from the county and city is a 99-year lease at $1 a year for the site.
Commissioners, who will be asked to vote next week on the proposal, had few questions but seemed enthusiastic.
Commissioner Warren Mackey called it “a wonderful asset coming to Chattanooga.”
Also on next week’s voting agenda:
A vote yea or nay to a long-desired plan to fund early retirements for county deputies. Sheriff Jim Hammond has pushed the plan for several years and commissioners were briefed on actuarial details in recent weeks.
Officers with 25 years’ service could retire at age 55 with a significant pay bump until they reach 62, the minimum age to receive Social Security. That would get them out of a potentially dangerous job and make room for younger- and lower-paid deputies, Hammond told commissioners earlier.
The downside is many officers — everyone except those with 30 years of service or those older than 60 with 20 years in — would lose access to the county’s retiree health benefits, which continue until age 65.
Nonetheless, Capt. Bill Johnson told commissioners Wednesday, 150 of the 167 commissioned officers at the sheriff’s office say they want the plan.
A vote on a FastTrack state grant application of $1.25 million for equipment improvements to benefit Yanfeng USA Automotive Trim Systems Inc., a new Volkswagen supplier.
Another FastTrack grant application for $200,000 to improve hangars for West Star Aviation Inc. at the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport.
Distribution of “discretionary” grants: $20,000 for ball field improvements in Signal Mountain ( District 2); $1,000 for the Partnership for Families, Children and Adults (District 9); $2,500 to the Want To Foundation teen program (District 8); $7,200 for an audio and speaker system at the Brainerd High gym ( District 5); $ 2,500 to A Better Tomorrow ( District 5); and $26,000 to the Mary Walker Historical and Educational Foundation (District 5).
The commission meets at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday on the fourth floor of the Hamilton County Courthouse.
Contact staff writer Judy Walton at jwalton@timesfreepress.com or 423757-6416.