The monument honoring Boone County veterans finally made its official debut with a ceremony in Lebanon this morning.

The monument got approval by the Lebanon Parks and Recreation Department Board to be built in Memorial Park in Lebanon in June after a three-year struggle. Some parks members wanted the monument to built in another area.

“We had a huge turnout,’’ said Paul Dickerson, vice chairman of the Veterans Memorial Committee. “It was a beautiful ceremony and it just went off like clockwork.”

The Lebanon High School band played the national anthem. Lebanon Police
Chief Tom Garoffolo sang a couple of patriotic songs.

“He has a beautiful voice; you think he studied opera,’’ said Dickerson, who served in Europe during the Korean War.

The guest speakers were Marty Justice, from the American Legion, and Lebanon Mayor Harold "Huck’’ Lewis.

Lewis and E.J. Coleman, a World War II vet who came up with the idea for the monument and worked on it for more than three years, cut the ribbon at the ceremony.

Dickerson said 900 personalized bricks, which costs $50 apiece, have been sold to be build around the monument. Dickerson said approximately 1,000 more could be sold.

All funds raised go to the maintenance of the monument.