Nikki Barker wears many hats.
Now, she sports one, proclaiming her Iraqi Freedom U.S. Army veteran status. But Barker also serves as the local VFW Veterans of Foreign Wars Commander, manager of the VFW Thrift Store, and president of the Putnam County Veterans Wall of Honor.
Between all those facets, Barker said approximately $40,000 has been spent supporting local veterans so far this year.
“And then, within the state of Georgia, $20,000 was given to Honor Flight, which takes veterans on a one-day trip to Washington and back to see all the monuments and memorials there,” she explained. “And we’ve had a couple of different small ones along with a monthly donation to the Veterans Park here and we give a monthly donation to the VFW to continue on with their different projects and things like that.”
Originally designed by Bob Landau and dedicated to Veterans Day 2014, the wall anchors the 15,500-square-foot Putnam County Veterans Wall of Honor Park, a little west of downtown Eatonton alongside West Marion Street.
The park's main wall is a 10-by-27-foot structure bearing the park’s name, backed up by seven flag poles and featuring the crests of the five traditional U.S. Armed Forces (Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines, and Navy). Simple park benches mixed with greenery down the center, flanked by brick walls on each side, combine to create a double-corridor effect leading to the anchor wall.
With bricks stacked 20 high and 16 across, each section of the wall contains 320 bricks, for a total of 1,920. To fulfill the memorial aspect of the Wall of Honor, each brick can be purchased for $50, and an equal-sized tile engraved with a remembered or honored veteran’s name will then be permanently attached.
The two side walls were constructed with six brick pillars, each joined by six brick walls and separated by two identically sized open spaces on each side. The design was initially intended as a cost-saving measure, but also to simplify each wall’s expansion and completion, if necessary.
That time has come. Barker said she recently sold the final remaining brick of the original six walls.
“So, we had to hire a contractor, a bricklayer, to come in and build the final four walls so we could have more spaces,” she explained last Thursday. “Willie Lamar Brick and Block Construction came out from Milledgeville and did the work. I think he did an awesome job. You can barely see any difference between the old and new bricks. I was kind of worried about that, but it’s almost a perfect match.
“And I wasn’t expecting this, but with the spaces filled in, it actually has an effect like you’re almost in an enclosed area,” Barker added. “And then you get the same effect when you look back from the front wall. I like it.”
Instantly, too, Barker has new spaces to recognize or commemorate 1,280 more veterans.
“All anyone has to do is come in and see me at the VFW store (934 Oak St., Eatonton) or email me at snikkib@gmail.com,” she said.
The work is not yet over, though.
“Hopefully, by next Memorial Day, that front wall will be completely redone,” Barker said. “It will not get knocked down, but I’m talking to a granite company, and it’s going to be covered in basically a sheet of granite, so it’ll be upgraded a bit to give it a more upscale, heavier look.
“It will still say Putnam County Veterans Wall of Honor on it, and it’s going to have each branch crest on it, but if you’re looking at the Army, it will have an etched picture of things that Army people are doing, and then under Air Force, it’ll have pictures of fighter jets and things like that.”
In the meantime, Barker also said she always seeks veterans and volunteers to help keep the Putnam County Veterans Wall of Honor in tip-top shape.
She pointed out there are always basic housekeeping duties, like trimming bushes, picking up trash, and keeping things clean and tidy.
“But I think the biggest thing I want to let the public know is that at one time, it was a really big deal to put your name up here and have a spot to see your veteran on the Wall. But then everyone knew we were running out of space, so the requests really slowed down,” she said. “But now we have space and bricks available, so let me know, and we can get your veteran permanently recognized on the Wall.”