Kneeling Memorial Soldier

Ed Pickett   (U.S. Air Force, Canton, Tx.) Sculptor
Juan Herrera   (U.S. Army, Canton, Tx.)  Posed for Statue
The Veterans Memorial (The Kneeling Soldier Statue)

I asked around and someone told me about Juan Herrera, a veteran, and he agreed to pose for the monument. He also had the military equipment. I am very detail oriented so I wanted to make sure every button matched.“

“My wife used to bartend up at the VFW next to the interstate,” said Juan Herrera. “They had a meeting and they were talking about the Veterans Memorial around 2005. TexDot donated the land and they were looking for a veteran from the county to pose for the “Kneeling Soldier” Memorial on their Plaza. My wife volunteered me. I knew most of the other veterans involved. So, I agreed. The Memorial contacted me and asked me to get in touch with Ed Pickett.

The statue is not about me.  It is about the fallen soldiers. That is what the whole memorial is about. It is for my buddies that are no longer with us.

I can proudly say Van Zandt County has the nicest Veterans Memorial than any I have ever seen.

 


“Red Montgomery asked me to come to a meeting they were having at the courthouse, about statues,” said Ed Pickett. “Red and 25 members of his family were at the courthouse. They were interested in getting a Veteran’s Memorial started in Canton. They wanted to pay homage to our soldiers. I designed the kneeling soldier and was looking for a veteran to pose for my sculptor.
I used a human form only to get measurements and not of the actual person. I use the live person as the model for the statue. We wanted a veteran. Steve White was a soldier we lost and his wife, Denise graciously donated $10,000 up front. For a waitress, that is a lot of money. Her son wanted to be the model. He was about 15-or-16 at the time but was too small for the model.

I sat out in the ditch in front of the Winery for a couple of days, for several hours, in the heat, in full gear in one position, taking pictures. Ed had to have very specific photos. They even included the wrinkles in my pants leg down to the boots. Very detailed.  Ed needed more pictures and a mold of my face, so he could make a cast.  Off and on I spent over ten years working on the “Kneeling Soldier.” They did an excellent job on the statue, and I was proud to take my wife and kids to visit.

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