WEST PARIS – Wanted: names of local veterans.

A committee in West Paris is building a war memorial similar in shape and size to an existing memorial, and be placed near the old one. It will be dedicated on Veterans Day, Nov. 11.

Sylvia McCann, committee chair, said the monument is needed because the old one is full. She was able to get the names of local veterans who served up to and through the Vietnam War, then she hit a roadblock – there was no way to simply get a list of local veterans for conflicts beyond Vietnam.

Peter Ogden, director of the Bureau of Veterans Services, said that his office does not track living veterans by town – only by name and Social Security number. So one would have to dig through more than 500,000 names to find the information. If an individual already has a name, however, the office can verify it and give further information, Ogden said.

The office does track deceased veterans by town.

“We get requests all the time. We’d love to help them,” Ogden said, adding that his office has neither the time nor money to fulfill such requests.

So, McCann has to rely on word of mouth.

The current monument has 180 names on it and includes conflicts up through the Korean War. McCann said the new monument will pick up where the old one left off, and include spill over Korean War veterans.

Veterans from each conflict will be grouped together, with space left for later additions.

However, adding a name later will be costly, McCann said. It costs $2.50 to engrave one 14-letter name before the monument is put up, and $125 to $150 after the fact, McCann said.

The new monument is funded by donations, McCann said.

To submit a name or make a donation, send materials to the town office or Sylvia McCann, 117 Main St., West Paris, ME 04289. For more information, call McCann at 674-2114.