South Dakota II

It is not uncommon for me to dedicate two separate posts to a single site. What is a little different and what I am doing today, is!

This site in Pierre is just so cool that I want to include some of the non Vietnam features. These include tributes to Native Americans, Korean War vets, and WWII vets.

The first two pics are of the whole site. The first one is from the right as you face the lake. The Vietnam and Korean walls are to the left in this pic.

The third pic shows the side by side Korea and Vietnam memorials.

Four and five highlight the WWII guys. Note that these are in color which is a bit unusual but highly effective. I was told, just today, that at one time, one of the guys was holding a cigar in his hand while he is saluting the flag, but that it was removed because that just should not happen.

The next two are of the eagle that was placed to honor all the Native Americans that have served their country.

And the final two are of the Flaming Fountain. I could not see a flame, but that is often the case, I am trying to find out if it is actually lit or if for some reason it was not on the day I was there. As always, if I get an update after this has posted to the site, I will let you know.

Check out my annual 9/11 remembrance post on the 11th, as always, at 9:00am.

UPDATE; A nice person from South Dakota Tourism called me yesterday (9/11/12) to explain that the flames is no longer lit. It seems the pipes that deliver the gas are under the lake and have been crushed over the years. It would be incredibly expensive to drain the lake, repair the pipes, etc so there are no plans to do so. Too bad, it must have been really beautiful.