THOMASVILLE, Ga. (WTXL) — "We need help from the community," said Stann McLeod, Veteran, Former President of Steering Committee.
Stann McLeod is an air force veteran who served for 30 years. After that he went on to become a junior ROTC instructor for many years.
Now, he is one of many individuals making sure veteran history isn't forgotten but they can't do it alone.
"I want to make sure that this next generation— our teenagers, our schools, public schools, Christian schools, private schools, home schools, know that the veterans that came before them served and they served for a purpose," said McLeod.
From this the idea of a Thomasville-Thomas County Veterans Museum was born.
The project will cost up to 3 million dollars. most of that funding is through non-profit grants.
Though that restoration project has a hefty price tag, local veterans think it will be well worth it to preserve history.
"Of course with Thomasville being such a historical community, we want it to be right," said Randy Young, Steering Committee for Thomas County Veterans Museum.
This museum will replace what was once the American Legion in Thomasville.
In the 1920's the legion was a gathering space for WWI veterans who had just returned home.
In 2019 the American Legion Organization put that same building up for sale. The property is located in between two historical veteran cemeteries. One housing military legend Henry Flipper. The first black graduate of West Point military academy.
"These cemeteries have been divided by color since they were inception actually. One side black, one side white. This building can be a common ground and a meeting point so that, that wall, symbolically, can be knocked down," said Young.
