Local businesses asked to donate to Norwalk veterans plaque program

Dec. 20--NORWALK -- Mayor Harry W. Rilling is asking businesses to help honor local veterans whose names are to be added to plaques outside City Hall.

"In an effort to update the current 'Wall of Fame' located in the entrance of City Hall, they will be producing a new plaque to add the newly identified Veterans to commemorate, honor and recognize them for their bravery and commitment," Rilling wrote in a recent letter to businesses.

Letters seeking money to pay for the estimated $5,500 plaque that will carry the new names went out to 30 local businesses this month, according to Rilling's office.

"Due to limited funding, the city is reaching out to the business community and requests that you consider making a donation so they may honor those veterans who put their lives on the line to protect our families and our country," wrote Rilling, a U.S. Navy veteran, in the letter dated Dec. 15.

In May, Rilling called upon veterans to submit their names for placement on honorary plaques outside City Hall at 125 East Ave. Since then, veterans or their families have submitted upward of 100 names for placement, and the city is seeking donations to pay for the plaque and engraving of the names.

Among the businesses asked to donate money to create the plaque are Diageo North America, Stew Leonard's, Cablevision, The Hour Publishing Co., Beiersdorf, Inc., McMahon Ford, Hilton Garden Inn Norwalk and Soundview Medical Associates, according to Erin E. Herring, assistant city clerk and veterans liaison for the city of Norwalk.

Herring said she was pleased at the number of veterans and veterans' families that submitted names for consideration.

"I was thrilled at the response that we got," Herring said. "It's very important to us to continue to recognize the veterans in the city."

To be considered for inclusion on a plaque, a veteran must be a Norwalk native, or have been inducted in Norwalk, served in the U.S. military during a recognized conflict, and present a DD-214 form demonstrating his or her honorable discharge

Deceased veterans are also eligible for having their names placed on a plaque.

Their family members (spouse, child or sibling) can present to the city the honorable discharge form.

For more information about the plaque program, or to donate to it, contact Herring at (203) 854-7704, or email her at eeherring@norwalkct.org.

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