A Soldier Carved in Stone

John Reno’s vision of a marble relief carving of a soldier became the basis for the Rutland County Vietnam Veterans Memorial. A Vietnam veteran, Reno struggled with depression and recurring flashbacks after his service, and when he began the sculpture in 1981 it became a means to work through his anger and pain. After he died suddenly in a boating accident in 1982, his unfinished artistic vision lay neglected for years in a Castleton gravel pit until fellow Vietnam-era veteran John Bergeron unearthed it. The incomplete sculpture then became a focal point for the memorial after Don Ramey of West Rutland completed it. The memorial, sponsored by Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1 in Rutland, whose first members included some of Reno’s close friends, was made possible by contributions from many businesses and individual supporters and was dedicated on Memorial Day in 2000. The stone sculpture at the center was later replaced because the earlier one deteriorated between 2000 and 2017, and a new carving by Ramey, with changes meant to more specifically suggest an American GI of the Vietnam era, was dedicated on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2017.

Rutland, Vermont · United States