John Murtha's One Last Slap At Taxpayers

A $150,000 bronze statue.

At a news conference Tuesday announcing plans for a 7-foot-tall statue of her husband, Joyce Murtha said he should be portrayed as serious but not stern.

"He would sometimes have a slight smile on his face," she said. The sculptor selected to execute the statue, Wayne Hyde of Bedford County, "has been given a lot of photographs" of the congressman, she said.

Tom Caulfield of Veteran Community Initiatives Inc. of Johnstown, one of the organizers, said the selection of the likeness and pose will involve a great deal of back and forth, with the last word likely coming from Joyce Murtha.

The statue will be erected in a parklet next to the Cambria County War Memorial Arena in Johnstown. The unveiling is slated for October 2011.