On the Road Friday ~ The Highground Verteran's Memorial Park ~ part 2 ~

 Welcome to On the Road Friday.

Over the Labor Day weekend our family visited The Highground Veterans Memorial Park.

~ read part 1 ~

The Highground is a special park. It seeks to continue to focus on the healing for all who come, regardless of the name of the battle which left scars.

It is the vision of The Highground to honor human courage and sacrifice wherever it is displayed, without either denying or glorifying the pain and suffering of war and of life.

 Kilroy Was Here

During World War II this was the symbol for the American Serviceman.

 Wisconsin Persian Gulf Tribute

An honor for our newst veterans. The mission reads " May this tribute honor all branches of America's Military who served through multiple conflicts in the Middle East while marching forward in the Global War on Terrorism and be a place of hope so that we do not walk past you but with you. Let this be an anchor for education and solace while securing in memory sacrifices made. With hope and prayer, the Wisconsin Persian Gulf Tribute will provide a safe haven for all to reflect and to heal." 

 Fragments

This was the memorial that really moved my heart.

The Vietnam Veterans Tribute

known as Fragments

is the first veterans tribute in the United States to include a women in the statuary. Under her poncho she carries the burden of the Wisconsin service men killed in Vietnam. The 1244 names are inscribed on the bundles of bamboo-shaped bronze rods in the back of the statue. They are interspersed with wind chimes ~ never meant to be read but to be voiced in sound so that the prayers left here go out to the hillsides and beyond. 

You will notice that not one of the figures in the statue is complete. They flow into one, much like war, each are dependent on each other and strengthen each other. The rifle is turned upside down - a sign that a Medivac is needed;  a piece of orange glass is seen as a reminder of Agent Orange. Many veterans gave their lives afterwards as a result of exposure to toxic chemicals.

The artist did not sign the statue. "It was signed with the cost of things. It was signed in sound. It was signed by us all."

 

The U.S. Military is us. There is no truer representation of a country than the people that it sends into the field to fight for it. The people who wear our uniform and carry our rifles into combat are our kids, and our job is to support them, because they're protecting us. Tom Clancy
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/veteransday

 Honor to the soldier and sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country’s cause. Honor, also, to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field and serves, as he best can, the same cause.

 -Abraham Lincoln

The U.S. Military is us. There is no truer representation of a country than the people that it sends into the field to fight for it. The people who wear our uniform and carry our rifles into combat are our kids, and our job is to support them, because they're protecting us. Tom Clancy
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/veteransday

The U.S. Military is us. There is no truer representation of a country than the people that it sends into the field to fight for it. The people who wear our uniform and carry our rifles into combat are our kids, and our job is to support them, because they're protecting us. Tom Clancy
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/veteransday

The U.S. Military is us. There is no truer representation of a country than the people that it sends into the field to fight for it. The people who wear our uniform and carry our rifles into combat are our kids, and our job is to support them, because they're protecting us. Tom Clancy
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/veteransday

The U.S. Military is us. There is no truer representation of a country than the people that it sends into the field to fight for it. The people who wear our uniform and carry our rifles into combat are our kids, and our job is to support them, because they're protecting us. Tom Clancy
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/veteransday