A memorial honoring former Waller ISD students who died serving their country is currently in the planning stages.

 Waller ISD is seeking the names of military members who were missing in action, killed in action, prisoners of war or who died from a combat-related injury to add to the memorial.

 The memorial, which will stand in the new Waller ISD football stadium, will bear the names of former Waller High School or Prairie View High School students dating as far back as World War II.

 Marianne Kosik, director of public information for Waller ISD, said that the district is still reaching out to the community to get names for the memorial.

 “We don’t want to leave anyone out,” she said.

 As of press time, eight names had been collected for the memorial.

 Bill George, Air Force JROTC chief of Waller High School, is part of the team that helped shape the idea, which previously had been sent to the district for approval but stalled due to financial issues.

 “The idea kind of got held up for awhile,” he said.

 George credits the idea of the memorial to longtime Waller resident Jake Umland, who he says came to the school district nearly two years ago with the idea of honoring former Waller ISD students with a memorial.

 “We went out to the cemetery together and found all the WWII vets who attended Waller ISD,” he said.

 When the new stadium was in the planning stages, George said they got the idea to combine the two projects.

 Now, the memorial is nearly past the planning stages and is set to be unveiled on August 28, which will serve as the first Waller High School football game of the season and the grand opening of the stadium.

 The memorial, which will be 9 feet tall, 4 feet wide and 1 foot thick, will stand near the flagpoles in the stadium and will be made of red Texas granite.

 Kosik said the district wants the entire community to come out for the unveiling, including residents from Tomball, Magnolia and Cypress.

 “We want to fill up all 10,000 seats,” she said.

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