Alamogordo and Holloman Air Force Base leadership, residents, veterans and their supporters assembled July 2 to dedicate the city’s Gateway Freedom Monument, featuring a McDonnel Douglass F-4E Phantom II static display. The monument will stand as a visible reminder of the strong partnership between the city and base. It also honors the service and sacrifice of those who flew and maintained the iconic F-4, particularly in the Vietnam War.

The effort began in 2018 when the city of Alamogordo received possession of a QF-4E — serial number 74-0625 — previously possessed by the Detachment 1 of the 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron at Holloman AFB. City volunteers towed the aircraft down public roadways to the parking lot of Alamogordo White Sands Regional Airport where the Phantom sat for years waiting for the next step.

That step came in 2023 when a group of former F-4 pilots led by Lance “Amazin’” Grace ’75 and J.J. “Wham” Harkins ’82, along with maintainers and supporters, engaged the city’s chamber of commerce to sponsor and partially fund the project. Their advocacy and hard work spawned a formal project design, funding strategy and the start of thousands of hours of volunteer labor and ingenuity. They selected a site at the intersection of highways 70 and 54 at the south side of the city, only 6 miles from the Holloman AFB main gate and a major thoroughfare for anyone entering the city or commuting to the base.

As it unfolded over the next three years, the project was foremost about people and the community-based partnership. As work progressed, Phantom fans paid close attention to the paint scheme, representative of the Southeast Asia combat configuration, and orientation of the F-4 mounted on its 20-foot support stanchion. A walkway around the display features brass plaques memorializing longstanding Alamogordo-Holloman ties, the F-4’s combat use in Vietnam and tributes to maintenance personnel and fighter pilots. Surrounding trays of engraved tiles and bricks identify the businesses, citizens and servicemembers who funded them.

Customized engraved tiles and bricks remain available for purchase to assist in funding current and future phases and upkeep of the Gateway Freedom Monument.  Interested donors should contact the Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce online at alamogordo.com/project-rise or call 575-437-6120 to purchase and inscribe a tile or brick.