General Bell: Chattanooga Needs The Coolidge Medal Of Honor Heritage Center - And Response (7)

  • Sunday, June 26, 2016
  • General B.B. Bell
General B.B. Bell
General B.B. Bell

I'm pleased and indeed compelled to let you know a bit more about the exciting and most honorable "Charles H. Coolidge Medal of Honor Heritage Center" planned for Coolidge Park.    

Here's what the Heritage Center will be: 

It will be a fitting capstone for Chattanooga's Coolidge Park on Northshore in downtown Chattanooga.  While this exceptional Chattanooga waterfront park is named after Technical Sergeant Charles H. Coolidge and ostensibly honors him, in fact there is no facility to properly recognize and memorialize his extraordinary contributions to the defense of liberty and our nation.  Sergeant Coolidge is a son of Chattanooga.  The Coolidge Medal of Honor Heritage Center will for all time memorialize him in the park named after him.  Mr. Coolidge and his family strongly support this effort.  Coolidge Park will remain "incomplete" until the establishment of the Coolidge Medal of Honor Heritage Center on its grounds.   

It will properly recognize Chattanooga as the birthplace of the nation's highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor.  Indeed, America's first Medal of Honor was awarded to Private Jacob Parrott for his gallant service just outside Chattanooga as part of Andrew's Raiders in the "Great Locomotive Chase" of April 1862." 

It will celebrate and honor each of the 33 soldiers and one civilian who earned the Medal of Honor for their heroism in the cataclysmic battles during the Civil War Chattanooga Campaign of 1863, notably including Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge.  Those receiving the Medal of Honor included First Lieutenant Arthur MacArthur (father of future WWII hero General Douglas MacArthur) when he planted the national colors in Confederate trenches following his soldiers' charge to the top of Missionary Ridge.   

It will commend and recognize stunning contributions of battlefield surgeon Dr. Mary Walker, the only female and only civilian ever to be awarded the Medal of Honor for her lifesaving efforts during the Chattanooga Campaign, among other battlefield locations. 

It will honor all 32 Tennesseans who have to date been awarded the Medal of Honor from the Civil War through WW I, WW II, Korea and Vietnam.   

It will fill a major void in Chattanooga, as there is little in the city that directly recognizes the sacrifices suffered by all wartime participants who fought here during the Civil War for the preservation of the United States.    

It will propagate the National Medal of Honor Foundation's Character Development Program, an acclaimed patriotic series of lesson plans for potential use in Chattanooga's and Hamilton County's public and private secondary school curriculums.   

It will re-establish the city of Chattanooga  as one of the most militarily significant locales in America.    

Here's what the Coolidge Medal of Honor Heritage Center will not do: 

It will not take up green space in Coolidge Park.  The Heritage Center is to be located in the little used eastern corner of the park, away from the waterfront and across the street from the Chattanooga Theatre Center.  It's "footprint" will constitute of only 4,000 square feet on the 2 1/2 acre eastern park parcel, and it will occupy less than one percent of the total seven acre park area.

It will not require more paving or roadway as access to it will use the already established parking facilities employed by the Chattanooga Theatre Center and other facilities.      

It is not being pursued on a "hope and a prayer."  Distinguished members of our community sit on its Board of Directors and two distinguished business PhD's at UTC have developed the Heritage Center's business plan.  It also has a solid fund raising plan and no construction will begin until appropriate donations are on hand.   

It will not be a museum nor is it in any way affiliated with any extant, planned or envisioned museum.  It is a Heritage Center honoring those who have earned the Medal of Honor fighting in and around our great city, or are from our region.   

Its development will not require public funds, as the business plan calls for a totally private funded enterprise.   

It is in no way a "for profit" enterprise.  The Heritage Center is a fully 501c3 non-profit activity.   Indeed and as such, surveys tell us that the Heritage Center will attract significant numbers of new patriotic visitors to our wonderful city and region.   

When I was a youngster growing up in Oak Ridge, my father, himself a West Point graduate, would from time to time bring me to Chattanooga to show me the ground on which the Union was saved and on which the blood of valor was poured out by both sides in our Civil War.  In charting its path to the future, including our fabulous Aquarium and other stunning attractions, Chattanooga has inadvertently overlooked its Civil War and military heritage.  On behalf of our military heroes, this should and must be overcome.   

It is my most thoughtful hope and indeed prayer that Chattanoogans, Tennesseans and all Americans rally to the cause and insist that our Medal of Honor heritage be remembered and celebrated on behalf of Technical Sergeant Charles H. Coolidge and the city park that bears his name.  And, please know that the Medal of Honor Heritage Center (currently relegated to a back corner of Northgate Shopping Center) houses the actual Medals of Honor awarded to the following now deceased heroes from our region: Private First Class Desmond T. Doss (WWII), Master Sergeant Ray E. Duke (Korea), First Sergeant Maximo Yabes (Vietnam) and Sergeant Mitchell W. Stout (Vietnam).  Their Medals of Honor deserve an accessible location to be viewed and honored by a grateful nation. 

Please contact both the city and county mayors as well as county commissioners and City Council members and let them know that you support the development and construction of the Charles H. Coolidge Medal of Honor Heritage Center in Coolidge Park.  Soon the City Council will vote on approving the Heritage Center initiative.  With our patriotic citizens' insistence, I know that Mayor Berke and the City Council will enthusiastically and unanimously approve and indeed embrace the effort.  Thank you.  

General B.B. Bell
U.S. Army (Retired)

* * *

All I can say to Gen. B.B. Bell’s excellent advocacy for the Charles H. Coolidge Medal of Honor Heritage Center planned for Coolidge Park is Amen Brother.

Surely, our community can rally around this patriotic proposal to honor all of our nations veterans by lifting high the recipients of the greatest military recognition - the Medal of Honor.

Zach Wamp
Member of Congress 1995-2011 

* * *

One time not so long ago my wife was treating our kids to ice cream at Mr. T's in St. Elmo. When it came time to pay, she realized she'd left her wallet in the car so she went back out to get it. On the way there, in absolutely sweltering heat, she noticed a van with the side door open that had a disabled elderly man in it. It being so hot outside and thinking the guy was having car trouble, she introduced herself and asked if there was anything she could get for him.  

He said "Oh thank you, Peggy, I'm Charlie Coolidge. No, I don't need anything. My son's inside getting us some ice cream." She stopped herself and asked if he was Charles Coolidge, the WWII veteran. He laughed and said "Yes m'am, that's me!" She said "Oh MAN! My husband would die to be here right now!" And that's quite true. By then the son had returned with ice cream cones and they sat and allowed Peg and my kids to have a truly unforgettable conversation with them. 

Mr. Coolidge was unconditionally approachable, funny, cheerful and sharp. When he downplayed what he did to earn the Medal of Honor, his son quietly, and proudly, interjected with the real skinny. And he did it like he'd done thousands of times before with the awe of a boy for his hero daddy. The longer they chatted, the more my family realized just what a tower of a man, sweating in that wheelchair, Mr. Coolidge really is. What a gift! Yes, I would have died to have been there.  

Thank you, so much, Mr. Coolidge and son for sharing yourselves and your incredible story with my family. You really are a treasure.  

So count me in as an enthusiastic future customer of this new non-museum at Coolidge Park. It may hurt some folks feelings but, lordy, this fabulous story and all of the other Chattanooga Medal of Honor stories need to be learned and never forgotten.    

Savage Glascock, Sr. 

* * * 

While I agree that the medal of honor center will be an asset, messing up the greenscape of Coolidge park is not good for downtown attractions.  There are many locations on the south shore and downtown that would be much better for the center, which are vacant and would be a better placement. 

Coolidge Park is a jewel and it is plenty full enough. Respectfully please reconsider the locale.  

Cat Martinez
East Ridge

 

* * * 

Everyone is in agreement that a National Medal of Honor Heritage Center honoring Col. Coolidge should exist; it is the location that is the issue. The city of Chattanooga has few remaining open spaces. Whether we call them "green" due to grass, trees or we just call them "open" spaces is unimportant. What is important is these are places for our city's residents and visitors to be outdoors where they can walk, picnic, while allowing kids to run around and all within a metropolitan area.  If we remove walkable sections of those spaces by constructing new buildings, they are gone forever.

Coolidge Park is the most popular and the most heavily used open space within the city of Chattanooga and is crucial to the well being of the residents and visitors on many levels. Certainly, a suitable place can be found close to or even bordering Coolidge Park for the home of the important Heritage Center without carving out part of our city's greatest outdoor public space?

Having said that, and opposite from General Bell's call, I would urge Chattanooga residents to contact your city commissioners, mayors, and other officials and encourage them to absolutely create a National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, but to find a different location other than the beloved Coolidge Park. 

Julie Clark
Rising Fawn 

* * * 

I was amazed that anyone could oppose the placement of the medal of honor museum in the first place.   With all of the talk about taking care of and giving back to our veterans, don’t people understand that the soldiers honored in this museum are super veterans?  Are we really having a discussion about making a choice between preserving green space and honoring our medal of honor winners? 

I was born and have lived in Chattanooga my entire life.  When I raised my children here there were no parks (greenspace) to enjoy.  You have many green spaces and I think our whole community is better for it.  However, speaking as a life-long resident, I see a trend towards changing Chattanooga to fit another mold and forgetting our heritage. 

If we can’t allocate two acres at Coolidge Park, the very park honoring our own Charles Coolidge, we’re going in the wrong direction.  Please contact the mayors and let them know we want to do the right thing in this regard. 

Linda McDonald
Suck Creek Mountain

* * *

We used to live in Chattanooga but have moved out to our own "green space" and occasionally go back to town for various reasons. We have been to Coolidge Park many times and have enjoyed it immensely. My husband is a Marine, once one - always one, so I've heard many of the tales of Sergeant Major Dan Daly who would rather have been an outstanding sergeant than just another officer, Captain Loyd Williams whose response was "Retreat? Hell, we just got here!" when advised several times to retreat by the French at Belleau Wood, Major General Smedley Butler, 1st Lt. Presley O'Bannon, and the many other military heroes of our great nation we aren't taught about in school. And John Wayne. 

I'm amazed at the complaints of the Medal of Honor Heritage Center taking up so much space at Coolidge Park, and those complaints coming from non-residents of Chattanooga. East Ridge is not Chattanooga. Rising Fawn isn't even in Tennessee. 

To briefly recap what General Bell stated above: 

The center will require no additional parking.
The center will take up a mere 4,000 square feet in the park.
For perspective, 4,000 square feet is a space 50 feet wide by 80 feet long.
The location will be in a far corner of Coolidge Park.
The center will be completely privately funded.
The center is intended to honor all Medal of Honor recipients, not just Mr. Coolidge. 

Four thousand square feet, 50 feet wide by 80 feet long, less than a small yard, and this is going to destroy "green spaces"? 

Please. Why so much junior high schoolish drama over such an insignificant space to commemorate the finest of our nation's finest? 

Vicki Rodgers
Nine Mile 

* * * 

With the first recipients of the distinguished Medal Of Honor laid to rest in our own Chattanooga's National Cemetery (Andrew's Raiders), by far Chattanooga is an incredibly appropriate location for such a museum. 

May I recommend an alternative location outside of Coolidge Park?  Right now above Puckett's is the former Chattanooga History Center space, which received a multi-million dollar facelift and is specifically designed to be a museum (with state of the art climate controls, etc).   

RiverCity Company, consider giving the fine folks at the Medal Of Honor Museum the opportunity to shine.  To me, this would be an appropriate allocation to the legacy the CHC left behind. 

Justin Strickland

Latest Headlines
Opinion
Democratic View On Top State Senate Issues - March 18, 2024
  • 3/18/2024

Campbell bill seeks to save lives by studying suicide trends in Tennessee 3 p.m. Senate Regular Calendar — SB 1787 , by Sen. Heidi Campbell, would require state health officials to produce ... more

The Odor Of Mendacity - And Response (2)
  • 3/16/2024

The Fulton County judge, Scott McAfee, overseeing the Fani Willis prosecution of Donald Trump and eighteen other defendants has spoken. In response to a motion by defendants to remove Willis ... more

Capitol Report From State Rep. Greg Vital For March 15
  • 3/15/2024

General Assembly confirms new Tennessee State Supreme Justice Members of the General Assembly confirmed the appointment of Mary L. Wagner to the Tennessee Supreme Court in a joint session ... more