BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (WTVF) — Brentwood city leaders are planning to build a new veterans memorial to honor those who've served, and they're looking for passionate local residents to provide input on the project.
After first serving the country himself, Tom Freeman has spent much of his time helping honor others who've served. Now, he's hoping to add Brentwood to the list of places he's helped get a veterans memorial.
"There's 2,000 veterans living in Brentwood, and as we look around the Nashville region, many of the cities already have veterans memorials. Now this is the time that Brentwood has stepped up to honor not only the present veterans that are here, but veterans of the past, and those in the future," said Tom Freeman, a veteran and co-founder of Honor Our Veterans.
Freeman is one of the residents in Brentwood applying to be on a special committee for the new veterans memorial that the city is planning.
Brentwood is looking for six people to help develop a design, estimate costs, get input from veterans groups, and work together on other aspects of the memorial.
"We're looking for people that legitimately are passionate about the cause and about the veterans memorial," said Brentwood Mayor Nelson Andrews.
Andrews said the budget for the memorial is about $100,000 and received strong support from city commissioners, but the committee may also help with fundraising.
"So with the veterans memorial, we want to do a private/public partnership and see how much money we can raise, how much interest there is in the community," Andrews said.
As for where the memorial will go, the location is still to be determined, but there are a couple of spots in the running, including somewhere at Crockett Park or near the Brentwood Police Station.
The goal is to have the memorial finished by the end of 2026.
The deadline to apply to be on the committee is June 12 at noon.
Click here for more information on applying to be on the committee.
This story was reported on-air by journalist Robb Coles and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at robb.coles@newschannel5.com.
Happy Birthday to the YMCA of Middle TN. They just celebrated their 150th anniversary! A lot has changed with the Y over the years. I have personally seen some of that firsthand when I was a long-time board member at the Northwest Family Y and part of their Black Achievers Program. Forrest Sanders has a look back.
- Lelan Statom
