San Bernardino terrorist attack memorial to be previewed at museum

Although it won’t be complete, the public will get a look at the long-awaited memorial to victims of the Dec. 2, 2015, attack at San Bernardino’s Inland Regional Center that killed 14 people, on the sixth anniversary Thursday, Dec. 2.

An exhibit at the San Bernardino County Museum that runs Dec. 2 through 19 will feature models of the “Curtain of Courage” Memorial, the project’s renderings, a timeline of the memorial’s development and a look at the process of Oakland-based designer Walter Hood.

Fourteen people were killed and 22 injured during the attack, which occurred during a training for employees of San Bernardino County’s Environmental Health Services division.

County spokesperson Felisa Cardona was working at the San Bernardino County Government Center on Dec. 2, 2015.

“That day was just, you know, just a horrible day and it was just overwhelming,” she said. “It was a terrible time for all of us. Because I’ve been there since the beginning, I’ve kind of known how people felt, what they were thinking.”

And in February 2016, she was a founding member of the December 2nd Memorial Committee, which designed the county’s memorial to the victims of the attack, along with other county employees, survivors of the attack and family members.

“Obviously, you don’t know where to start with something like that. It’s a very daunting task, because you want something that will honor and remember people, but you also want it to be something that people will like,” Cardona said.

Another member of the committee was Robert Velasco, the father of health inspector Yvette Velasco, 27, one of the 14 people killed in the attack.

“Anybody else who’s never been in a situation like this, it’s hard to explain to them,” he said Tuesday, Nov. 30. “The pain and everything, it doesn’t go away.”

But working on the committee, knowing he was contributing to a memorial to Yvette and the other victims, helped.

“She worked in that county building. Her department was up on the third floor there. Some of the people she worked with will probably walk past the memorial every day when they go to work.”

Soberingly, the committee had a lot of places to look for inspiration. They examined memorials erected for the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Columbine High School massacre and Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church mass shooting.

“We can’t just have a person come with a plaque or a stone and call it a day,” Cardona said. “We knew we had to do something special.”

They also visited the Aurora theater shooting memorial in Colorado and spoke with survivors and families there, getting input for San Bernardino’s memorial.

“Unfortunately, we’re now part of a club that no one wants to be part of, but that now means we’re a resource for other people to reach out to,” Cardona said.

The committee hired consultants who specialize in public art . It heard from 85 artists interested in designing the memorial, including artists in Korea, Germany and Singapore, as well as San Bernardino County artists. Five were asked to create table-sized concept models of their proposed memorial and, in September 2020, the committee chose Hood, an internationally recognized landscape architect and designer.

The memorial will be on the eastern side of the county government building on North Arrowhead Avenue in San Bernardino. The final concept, the “Curtain of Courage,” will be curving mesh panels made of bronze and steel, “almost like a bulletproof vest protecting our loved ones in each alcove,” Cardona said.

The curving curtain will create 14 alcoves, one for each of those killed in the shooting. The alcoves will have a panel of colored glass in a shade chosen by family members of the victims. For example, Harry Bowman’s family chose Department of Forestry green to reference his love of the outdoors. Family members also picked a phrase that will be inscribed on the bench in each alcove: Shannon Johnson, who told a coworker “I got you” as he shielded her from bullets during the attack, will be commemorated with those words.

A nearby informational plaque will discuss the events of the day in English, Spanish and Vietnamese, in deference to the family of victim Tin Nguyen.

“The family members (on the committee) wanted to make sure we honored those who died, the survivors and also the first responders,” Cardona said.

Velasco is glad there will be a permanent memorial to the victims.

“We have so many tragedies happening around the world and the country — we just had another school shooting today — and I think people move on. That’s the new topic of the day. I think the tragedies of the past are kind of forgotten,” he said. “I think it’s one the families of the victims will never forget and her colleagues will never forget, and maybe the people of San Bernardino, but I think the rest of the world moves on.”

The $1.3 million memorial is on track to open to the public in March or April, although no definitive date has been set yet.

“This has been rolling along, though,” Cardona said.

In the meantime, the public will be able to get a glimpse of the memorial at the San Bernardino County Museum in December.

The Dec. 2 exhibit opens at 1 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 2, and runs through Dec. 19. A private event will be held beforehand for the families and survivors. The museum is at 2024 Orange Tree Lane in Redlands. It is open Tuesdays through Sundays, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. General admission is $10 for adults, $8 for members of the military or seniors, $7 for students and $5 for children ages 5 to 12. Children under 5 and Museum Association members are free.

Information, 909-798-8608 or SBCounty.gov/museum.

Also, a 3 p.m. ceremony is set for Thursday at Cal State San Bernardino, in the Peace Garden outside the Chemical Sciences Building for the victims — five of whom graduated from the university. It can also be viewed online. Those wishing to take part, virtually or in person, are asked to register online.

Information: 909-537-5300, Coyote Connection online or cns@csusb.edu