A new marker at Pendleton King Park ties to the site’s original vision.
On May 16, to mark Armed Forces Day, members of Pine Needle Garden Club, Garden Clubs of Georgia and the Pendleton King Park Foundation gathered to unveil and dedicate a Blue Star Marker.
“We are thrilled to have this marker,” said Rob Dennis, the park foundation president.
The 64-acre park, which opened 60 years ago this month, was originally designed as a bird sanctuary to honor the memory of John Pendleton King II, a World War I veteran who died not long after returning from the war.
He had been home three weeks when he heard two women screaming near Lake Elizabeth. He saved one of the women from drowning but the other died. He died not long after at the age of 29 from a possible brain aneurysm according to the Pendleton King Park website.
“In many respects, the park already functions as a memorial landscape, shaped by loss, memory and public good. The Blue Star Memorial naturally extends that original purpose,” he said.
A Blue Star family refers to the immediate relatives of a currently serving member of the United States Armed Forces. The Blue Star program was developed during World War II as a living memorial to veterans; the New Jersey Council of Garden Clubs planted 8,000 dogwood trees
“In 1945, the National Council of State Garden Clubs (now NGC, Inc.) adopted this program and began a Blue Star Highway system that covers thousands of miles across the Continental United States, Alaska, and Hawaii. Blue Star Memorial Highway Markers were placed along the way,” according to the National Garden Clubs’ website.
The marker is positioned not far from the M48 tank on the site that was presented by the US Army School/ Training Center and Fort Gordon to honor veterans of the 10th Armored Division who trained at Camp Gordon 1942-1944.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. She’s won multiple Georgia Press Association awards, is the recipient of the 2018 Greater Augusta Arts Council’s media award and was named best local writer by readers of Augusta Magazine in 2024 and 2025. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
