Gerald Hay, communications specialist for Johnson County government and a U.S. Marine Corps Vietnam veteran, urged residents to visit the Gold Star Family Memorial at Oasis Veterans Park in Olathe and to honor Gold Star families.

The memorial is part of the Hershey Williams Foundation’s national network of memorials, which the speaker said includes 147 memorials across 50 states; Hay said this memorial is the foundation’s only site in Kansas and was dedicated five years ago.

The site includes a battlefield cross that was donated by a Gold Star family in memory of their son, an Army specialist who Hay said was killed in Iraq in Feb. 2007 and who had graduated from Oasis. “Please join us today to honor our Gold Star families and visit this beautiful memorial at Oasis Veterans Park,” Hay said.

Hay identified himself as a communications specialist for Johnson County government and as a Marine Corps veteran during the remarks. The comments were brief and ceremonial in nature and did not include any formal actions or votes.

Oasis Veterans Park in Olathe is the location named in the remarks; no additional dates, sponsors, or follow-up actions were specified in the transcript.