A BOLD SALUTE TO AREA VETERANS
Memorial Day dedication planned for statue that depicts two hometown heroes
As Americans pause to honor the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice this Memorial Day, The Woodlands will christen a monument that will serve as a permanent reminder of the price of freedom.
“The Way Home,” a memorial monument dedicated to U.S. veterans from all branches of the military, will be revealed in Town Green Park May 25 at 4 p.m.
The bronze statue depicts two real-life hometown heroes: Cory Kosters of The Woodlands, who was killed in Iraq at the age of 19; and Zachary Endsley of Spring, who died in Afghanistan at the age of 21.
Kosters and Endsley are two of 13 people who called The Woodlands area home before giving their lives in military service.
The idea for the monument was conceived in 2007, the same year that Kosters and Endsley died just two months apart, but it took nearly eight years to come to fruition due to challenges funding the $500,000 project.
“It’s been a project of belief,” said Bill Wingo, the project chairman
and an Air Force veteran himself. “Most of us who started had a vision that The Woodlands needed a memorial to thank veterans for their service.”
The Greater Woodlands Public Art Foundation, which spearheaded the project, sought approval of the project from The Woodlands governing body several times over the years, but it wasn’t until last year that the Township Board of Directors got behind it.
Edd Hayes, the official state sculptor of Texas, whose work includes the horses in front of the Astrodome, the fireman outside the Houston Fire Museum and the deer at the various entrances to The Woodlands, found a special place in his heart for this monument.
“I have a pretty strong feeling for young men like these two boys that go out and defend our country,” Hayes said. “I’m thankful to God they do that.”
Hayes voluntarily contributed a miniature scale model of the statue — usually costing $30,000$50,000 — for Wingo to present to The Woodlands Township, which unanimously approved the placement of the memorial statue in Town Green Park, gave a grant of more than $80,000 and waived the $50,000 maintenance fee normally required for permanent fixtures in town parks.
The rest of the money was raised from private donors and through the sale of memorial tiles engraved with names of veterans that will be embedded in the monument.
For Hayes, this project was the result of divine inspiration. He has done other projects honoring war and public service heroes, but he wanted to make this one personal to the people of The Woodlands.
“These two boys did live,” Hayes said. “They were two living beings that were well-known in the community … it’s their uniforms, their boot tracks in the sand … it’s a very personal monument.”
For months, Hayes immersed himself in the details of the two young men after whom he modeled the statue, lining his studio walls with their pictures and keeping their uniforms, boots and helmets on hand.
“I saw them every day,” he said. “They shared my studio with me.”
The sculpture depicts the instant before Kosters taps his friend, Endsley, on the shoulder to point out a bright light he sees in the distance that he knows is “The Way Home.” Not their home in The Woodlands, Hayes said, but a heavenly one.
The monument will recognize the sacrifice of the veterans’ families as well, with a bronze scene that shows a mother receiving a folded American flag in memory of her fallen child.
Hayes wanted to extend the same respect to the Kosters and Endsley families as well. He created the likeness of two hearts, which the families engraved with personal sentiments before they were welded into the statues.