Lacey man continues effort to create attack memorials in all 50 states

SARAH JACKSON, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Sunday, March 10, 2002

LACEY -- John Jackson isn't finished with Sept. 11.

The Lacey man set up a nonprofit corporation called the Spirit of America Foundation in a Herculean effort to memorialize Sept. 11 and other heroic American efforts.

Jackson kicked off his foundation two months after the attacks by pushing the sale of American-flag hard hats -- with retailers donating some of the proceeds -- to help fund Pentagon-shaped memorials in all 50 states.

While the hard hat sales haven't soared, Jackson now is more focused on finalizing a budget and designing a plan for the memorials.

"These things take time," Jackson said. "It's not something that can happen overnight. We want to be able to have a site selection committee in each state once we go on a national level."

Jackson has recruited help from numerous entities, including BJSS Duarte Bryant, an Olympia architecture firm; Berschauer Phillips Construction Co. in Tumwater; and PSI, a Tacoma-based engineering, consulting and testing firm.

With a final design and budget and the potential for site assessment, Jackson hopes his project can take off in Washington state -- either on the Capitol Campus or elsewhere.

"I think it would be a really fitting tribute for the families to see the first memorial going up clear across the country," Jackson said.

So far, design plans include most of Jackson's original vision of a memorial with marble panels for the names of victims -- similar to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Human figures cast in bronze would stand on the edges of the memorial, holding hands to symbolize unity. Fifty stars for 50 states and four lights for four downed planes also are part of the design.

Finally, one salvaged beam from the wreckage of the World Trade Center will rise from the center -- if Jackson can get access to it.

Jackson has connected with the port authority and other agencies in New York City dealing with the salvage, but access to the beams -- some of them contaminated -- is still up in the air.

"If for some reason I can't get that material," Jackson said, "we can fabricate our own."

Jackson said the Spirit of America Foundation isn't aggressively raising funds and won't until it attains nonprofit status.

But Jackson feels better these days -- safer with the threat of attacks diminished, at least for now.

"I probably am more at ease now," Jackson said. "They caught us off guard, but that's not ever going to happen again."

Jackson, owner of Jackson's Field Welding Services LLC of Lacey, said business is definitely slow, a fact he attributes to post-Sept. 11 uncertainty.

"They're just kind of sitting back, waiting to see what's happening, and it's affecting our economy," Jackson said. "Everybody's getting tight. The money isn't out there like it was before Sept. 11."

Though he's impressed with the nation's response to the attacks, Jackson said America ought to remember life at home, too.

Jackson also wonders if Americans are prepared for another attack.

"I'm a little concerned about going after countries like North Korea and those kind of people," Jackson said. "I feel like we need to focus a little bit more on the individuals in our country, versus trying to go out and start a bunch of crap with other countries out there. I don't think we should be threatening them."

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