Springfield community donates items, mementos to new VA clinic

Many Clark County veterans and their families are looking ahead to next year when the new VA outpatient clinic will open its doors in Springfield — but because of a special project, they’ll have something to put on their calendars 20 years from now.

Jerry Ferrell, chairman of the Veterans Stakeholder Committee in Springfield, is accepting historical items to put inside a time capsule that will be sealed for 20 years and put inside the new clinic, which is being built on North Limestone Street.

“When you can look at a medal from World War I that’s 100 years ago — that’s been in that family for 100 years,” he said. “It would mean a lot to them. It means a lot to me that somebody would trust me to put that into a time capsule.”

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On Tuesday, several family members of veterans braved the cold to donate items to the cause. Ferrell was taking donations outside the current VA clinic on Burnett Road.

Some of the items collected include a WWI Bronze Star, patches, medals and pictures — even a Vietnamese doll that was used as a booby-trap.

All of them — Ferrell calls, ‘family treasures.’ He’s even planning to donate items from his own time in the military, as well as his dad’s.

Denise Turner comes from a family of veterans. She stopped by to donate a framed flag that was given to her family in honor of her brother, who was a Vietnam-era veteran.

“It needs to find a home, and I think this is a good place for it in honor of my dad and brother,” she said.

The capsule will be sealed for 20 years inside the new clinic to represent the 20 years that the clinic has been in its current location.

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Ferrell said after that time, the capsule will be opened and the items will be transferred to the Dayton VA to be put in the national archives.

Construction is wrapping up on the new clinic, and it’s expected to open early 2020.

The new location will be an expansion of nearly 3,000 square feet and will have more examination rooms and providers.

“This is an incredibly rare opportunity,” said Dayton VA Public Affairs Officer, Ted Froats. “Usually when we’re looking at new locations, we are renting existing space, and this is a really rare opportunity to build something from the ground up for our veterans.”

Anyone who would like to donate items to the time capsule may call Jerry Ferrell at 937-781-6227.

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