Brandermill memorial to be dedicated on Veteran's Day

Caleb Dodgen, 16, built this memorial honoring Brandermill veterans as his Eagle Scout project. The memorial will be dedicated on Veteran's Day.

After nearly two years of planning, fundraising and construction, a new memorial honoring Brandermill veterans will be dedicated on Veteran's Day.

The ceremony will begin on Nov. 11 at 2 p.m. at the Brandermill Church, 4500 Millridge Parkway, and close at the memorial in Sunday Park where a flag that once flew with Army 1st Lt. Timothy E. Price's unit in Iraq will be raised in honor of all veterans.

Price, 25, was killed in September 2004 by enemy sniper fire while serving in Baghdad, Iraq.

Caleb Dodgen, 16, of Shadow Ridge, built the memorial as his Eagle Scout project. It's located on the boardwalk in Sunday Park overlooking the Swift Creek Reservoir and includes a lighted flagpole placed on a circular, custom-tinted, concrete stage with landscaped surroundings. The dedication stone is the same type of black granite used on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The plaque on the memorial reads, "Freedom is never free. Dedicated to the veterans of Brandermill. In memory of Army 1st Lt. Timothy E. Price and all who gave their lives in service to our country."

Guest speakers at the dedication ceremony will include Jon Hatfield of the Virginia War Memorial, Col. Dennis C. Cochrane (Ret.), representing the Corps of Cadets of Virginia Tech, John Price, father of 1st Lt. Timothy Price and a resident of the Long Hill neighborhood, and a representative of the Brandermill Community Association Board of Directors.

Refreshments will be served after the dedication.

"Our veterans deserve a memorial from the community of Brandermill that shows that we truly appreciate their sacrifices," wrote Caleb in a letter to the Brandermill Community Association detailing his Eagle Scout project. "This memorial should be a source of reflection, of appreciation and of remembrance...This memorial should inspire us to remember those that have and those that will in the future, sacrifice their lives so that

we can live ours in freedom. This flagpole is not a simple flagpole that is accompanied by a memorial stone; it stands as a symbol of all the veterans of Brandermill."