City council has set aside money to create a new veterans memorial — one designated for families who have lost loved ones in armed conflict.

Council appropriated $29,900 to create a Gold Star Family Memorial Monument in Veterans Park. Gold Star Custom Lapel pins are presented to and worn by surviving family members of armed forces members killed in action.

“This is a capital improvement item and will represent the final phase of improvements to Veterans Park,” said City Manager Art Pizzano.

According to city documentation, the memorial is the vision of Hershel Woody Williams, an Iwo Jima Medal of Honor Recipient. Such a memorial recognizes families collectively, rather than individually. The city aims to have the project complete in time for Memorial Day.

The proposal for the memorial reads, “The Gold Star Families Memorial Monument honors those families who sacrificed more than most of us, and illustrates that America has citizens in every community and hamlet willing to make such sacrifices. The memorial monument further illustrates that families suffer and grieve when a dear relative is lost. Without their sacrifices, freedom could not and would not have been preserved.”

The design specifies two granite tablets, with the image of a soldier etched between the tablets. A gold star is on one side of the soldier, with the famous Iwo Jima flag-raising on the other side. According to the monument website, the first monument was placed in Dunbar, W.Va., in 2013. A second was made for Valley Forge, Pa., a third is being built in Tampa, Fla. Ten more are in the planning stages.