After a years-long fundraising process and a trip across the Atlantic Ocean, a bronze bell 40 inches tall and weighing more than half a ton will reside at Pikes Peak National Cemetery. This Honor Bell, as it’s known, will now toll seven times at each memorial service held at the military cemetery.
It’s the second such bell from the Denver-based Honor Bell Foundation. The first, dedicated in 2016, is kept at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Metro Denver. That bell has since tolled thousands of times at veteran funerals throughout Colorado and has had a busy schedule. It was only available in the Pikes Peak region two days a month.
“May the sound of the Honor Bell inspire us to live our lives in a manner worthy of sacrifices made on our behalf,” said acting director of the Pikes Peak National Cemetery Andrew Santa-Pinter during a Monday dedication ceremony for the second bell at Mt. Carmel Veterans Center in Colorado Springs.
Board members and volunteers with the foundation raised $400,000 for the second bell, which was cast in the Netherlands this June. Melted within the bronze were artifacts from 12 Colorado veterans, ranging from Purple Hearts and pilot wings to a dog leash and a piece of the USS Arizona.
“Every artifact is representative of the different generations of veterans who have served,” executive director of the Honor Bell Foundation Karen Kantor said. “We have all of those medals and artifacts forged with honor into the bell so that when we toll that bell, we honor those veterans.”
Attendees of the Monday ceremony heard the bell toll seven times at its dedication, as it will for memorials primarily at Pikes Peak National Cemetery and the U.S. Air Force Academy moving forward. This “rendering bell honors” is the last sound heard at a veteran’s funeral, intended as a solemn final tribute. The seven tolls represent the stages of a servicemember’s life — the choice to serve, camaraderie, patriotism, respect, dignity, honor, and the value of life.
The Honor Bell Foundation hopes to eventually dedicate a bell to all 157 U.S. national cemeteries.
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