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Monument honoring military families could be placed on AR State Capitol grounds

Marine Glisovic | KATV

LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — An effort to honor families of servicemen and women who sacrificed their lives while serving in the military is underway.

SB244 is making its way through the legislature and it would allow a memorial monument on the Arkansas State Capitol grounds.

The Gold Star Families Memorial Monument would be the first in the country to be placed on a state's capitol grounds.

KATV spoke with Debra Johnson who became a Gold Star Mother when she lost her son in 2010.

"His name is Jeremy, he was 23 years old, he was an athlete in high school, very outgoing personality,” said Johnson.

For mothers like Johnson, a central location she said, would be a place to cope.

"Honoring the gold star families who are still struggling with the loss of their family member I think it's a great thing to have a place...where people can go and...remember," she added.

Paul Garrett, Commandant of the Little Rock Detachment for the Marine Corps League, is one of the organizers and he tells KATV while the funding of the project will be challenging it’s also worth it.

"The one segment that has made the sacrifice as great as anyone has been the families and they've sort of been lost or overlooked so we're trying to correct this and we feel like it's past time to do something to help them,” added Garrett.

Click here to find out how you can help fund this project.