Tony Gullo, owner of Gullo Auto Group, donated $300,000 to the Veterans Memorial Park for the construction of the Texas Raiders Memorial.
The Montgomery County Veterans Memorial Commission held a flag retirement ceremony June 14 for Flag Day. During the celebration, Gullo donated $300,000 for the construction of the Texas Raiders Memorial. Communications Director Tiffany Ladarola for Gullo Auto Group said the Texas Raiders was an American Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress that was purchased by the Commemorative Air Force's Gulf Coast Wing "Texas Raiders" group in 1967. Ladarola said the aircraft was maintained and flown out of Conroe-North Houston Regional Airport located in Conroe.
During a June 21 workshop meeting, Jimmie Edwards, chair of the Montgomery County Veterans Memorial Commission, said the memorial will be to honor all of the pilots and crew of B-17 during World War II. Edwards said the memorial is also in honor of the B-17 that crashed during a Dallas aircraft show, where six people died—one of which was from Montgomery, Texas. Ladarola said Gullo decided to make the donation because during World War II, Gullo had two brothers and two brothers-in-law fight in the war, with one of his brothers-in-law passing in a B-17.
"He felt it was the right thing to do to support the community and the memorial park. In the past six years, the park has undergone a beautiful transformation thanks to Mr. Jimmy C. Edwards who had the vision for the park," Ladarola said in a June 22 statement.
According to previous reporting, the Veterans Memorial Park is expected to break ground on the visitors center Freedom Hall at Conroe project on Veterans Day. The Texas Raiders Memorial is expected to open in October.
