11.11

In  honor of today, I am sharing a journal post my son wrote. I asked if I could share it. It has to do with the visit that we took to The Highground.

The Highground is a 155 acre memorial park located in Neillsville, Wisconsin. It pays tribute to veterans of all major 20th and 21st century wars that the United States has participated in. They have monuments dedicated to all of these major conflicts, including the ongoing War on Terror. They have also left space on their Korean War monument for when the conflict is over and peace is secured. I particularly thought that leaving that space open was very thoughtful of them, it shows the level of concern that the builders of this park have towards these conflicts and the care they show to those who were involved. Very touching.

The park is quite adamant about being known as a Veteran's Memorial Park, rather than a War Memorial. I respect that about the park. Multiple efforts have been made to make this park especially dedicated to veterans. One of the coolest gestures to this, is the WW1 doughboy statue. Most of the doughboy statues in the United States are posed with their rifles at the ready and their hand posed ready to throw a grenade. Highground changed their statue to show the doughboy holding his rifle by the front stock, with his hand out in a gesture of greeting to all whom enter the park. The staff has done an amazing job of making the park a special place for veterans. 

A very stirring PTSD walking path is located in the woods. 

The Learning Center is a building located outside of the main park. It has over 4,000 books available, a computer area, and room dedicated to all the soldiers from Wisconsin who have died in recent conflicts. 

My time at The Highground Memorial Park helped me to truly appreciate the sacrifice that so many brave men and women have made for this country. It was an eye opening experience that I would recommend to anyone who is a veteran or not.

Sam TePaske