Alaska X

Some years ago I was in Alaska and at Palmer photographed a memorial to vets. Here is what it looked like then and you can find a post about it elsewhere on this site. Out behind it you are looking at POW/MIA mountain.

Over time it was decided to move it to another site in Wasilla. During the moving process it was badly damaged and a new memorial was designed and erected. As much as I loved the original, I must say they outdid themselves with the new one.

 

 I visited in March, 2020 and you can see that there was quite a bit of snow and ice, so some of the details remain a mystery although there are several components from the original.

The panels are filled with the names of those who served, more than 2,000.

 Not all panels are filled in, leaving room for the future.

Some of the those from Alaska, and a few others though none of these as far as I can tell are among the 57 lost in 'Nam.

These are a couple of the components from the original Mat-Su site.

A personal note:

As my son and I negotiated the snow and ice we found ourselves at the same panel. Somehow, out of the thousands of names we were each drawn to this panel and there, apparently calling to us, was this.

Pat is my son's brother. He was lost in the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen. How or why his name is honored here I do not know. I have a call in to the Mayor of Wasilla's office to see if I can get any additional information. If, or when, I learn anything I will update it here.

In the meantime, ponder this quote from George Hays at the re-dedication of this, the Mat-Su Veterans Memorial Wall of Honor.

“Some people live an entire lifetime and wonder if they ever made a difference in the world, a veteran doesn’t have that problem,”

                                                            ~George Hays 

The memorial is located on Wasilla Fishhook Road, north of Wasilla.

Next time, on the 16th, we will revisit Arizona, so join me there, as usual, at 9:00am.

To see additional memorials from Alaska, or any other state, please click the state name on the left side of this page.