The Barrington United Veterans Council no longer wants the veterans memorial to be located near the flagpole outside Barrington Town Hall.

In a series of emails to the town manager and members of the town council, the UVC has stated that it is seeking assistance from the town in relocating the veterans memorial away from the town hall.

Members of the Barrington United Veterans Council stated in one of the emails that the memorial needs to be moved to “restore and protect the memorial’s dignity.”

“As the memorial was originally constructed using funds obtained and raised through our local Veterans of Foreign Wars post, it is the intent of the BUVC (Barrington United Veterans Council) to use a similar method of fundraising to cover the full cost of the memorial's relocation,” stated an email signed by 10 members of the group. “The Barrington UVC believes that the men and women of this community, who have sacrificed so much for this nation, deserve a dedicated and respectful home for their memorial devoid of the specter of potential future desecration.”

When reached late last week, Barrington Town Manager Jim Cunha said he had no comment regarding the veterans group’s request. Mr. Cunha is a Navy veteran.

The veterans group has been locked in a back-and-forth debate with Barrington officials about which flags should be allowed to fly on the town hall flagpole. The veterans group has asked that flags carrying a partisan or political message or those that are divisive not be flown on the flagpole, which stands in the center of the memorial.

Members of the council have supported resolutions to fly the Pride flag, the Black Lives Matter flag, and most recently the Autism Awareness flag on the town hall flagpole, just beneath the American flag. The council members and town manager would not sponsor the Barrington United Veterans Council’s request to fly a flag that carried the message “Respect the Flag, Keep Politics off the Pole.” Some members of the council said the veterans’ flag seemed to be self-contradictory.

Paul Dulchinos is a member of the Barrington United Veterans Council and has been spearheading the effort to have the memorial relocated. He said the group would like to find a spot for the memorial, its plaques and a flagpole that currently stands near Victory Gates at Barrington High School. He also said that the new location will need to be protected and controlled by the town veterans “to prevent the site from being turned into a virtue signaling partisan political billboard.”

Mr. Dulchinos said the the veterans group does not have an estimate for how much the relocation would cost, but added that his group would pay for the work. He said the group only needs the town for the “site authorization.”

“At a minimum we want our bronze plaques away from the Town Hall Flagpole,” he said.

Members of the Barrington UVC to sign the email to the town are former Barrington Police Chief Charles Brule, Luigi Carusi, Mr. Dulchinos, Albert Girard, Jr., William Groves, Kenneth Lass, Charles Peabody, Joseph Pine, Jr., Frank Santoro, and Bart Stanzione.