9 AF, USAFCENT Airmen’s Memorial Foundation approved

Published March 25, 2009
By Staff Sgt. Amanda Savannah
9th Air Force Public Affairs

SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. -- The 9th Air Force and U.S. Air Forces Central headquarters here is one step closer to memorializing Airmen who have been killed in action since the inception of 9 AF on June 28, 1942.

The 9 AF and USAFCENT Airmen's Memorial Foundation has been approved, allowing the entity to operate as a private organization and receive the donations needed to build the memorial.

Chief Master Sgt. Scott Dearduff, 9 AF and USAFCENT Command Chief Master Sergeant and president of the 9 AF and USAFCENT Airmen's Memorial Committee, formed the committee to create the memorial foundation when he arrived at Shaw Air Force Base in July 2007.

"I got here ... and realized we have great history in the 9 AF," he said. "Our Airmen have served in conflicts throughout history, and there are many who made the ultimate sacrifice. So we formed a committee to come up with the idea to create the foundation and build the memorial, and here we are."

To get approval to have the foundation, the committee had to have authorization from the installation commander to operate on base as a private organization, the chief said. The foundation has also been approved as a non-profit corporation by South Carolina and has permission to solicit donations within the state.

Tech. Sgt. Kevin Darrow, 372nd Training Recruiting Squadron Detachment 2 flight chief, is president of the Shaw Group 56, which has been instrumental in coming up with possible fundraisers for the memorial. The Shaw Group 56 also assisted with the memorial's original design and organized the ceremonial ground breaking ceremony, which took place on Memorial Day 2008 at the future site, the 9 AF and USAFCENT headquarters parade grounds.

The memorial foundation is also organizing the main fundraiser for the memorial - the sale of engraved bricks that will be used in building part of the memorial, Sergeant Darrow said.

"Individuals will be able to, through a donation of $50, have their name, their organization or whatever message they would like placed on the brick that will eventually be put in the ground surrounding or as a walkway up to the memorial itself," Chief Dearduff said.

People interested in submitting donations and brick requests can visit the foundation's Web site, www.fallenairmenmemorial.com. The site includes donation and brick request forms, as well as the history of the foundation, photos of committee members, conceptual drawings of the memorial and more, Chief Dearduff said.

Building memorials to remind people of fallen Airmen is very personal to Chief Dearduff.

"As you go down the list of those who have been killed in action [during operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom], there's a personal attachment for me, as a leader, whether I ... had met and personally engaged in conversation with them, or if they were in my unit and I knew what they were doing," he said.

In 2004, Chief Dearduff was deployed to the former location of the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing headquarters, where a memorial for Airmen who'd been killed in action was built. Two years later, he was stationed at Joint Base Balad, where the wing is located now.

"I got there and said, 'Where's the memorial?'" he said. "There was no memorial, so we just built another one. It's still standing and gets updated. Senior leadership who go to the base and all the people who serve there go and look at it and get a chance to do exactly what the memorial was designed for, and that is to reflect upon and remember those who have given the ultimate sacrifice. So now we have a foundation and we're going to build a memorial here so that everyone -- the public, retirees, our servicemembers and their families -- has a place to come and remember those who have served and those who have sacrificed and those who have fought."