Flags of Honor Veterans Memorial

Pay respects at Willmar memorial this holiday weekend

WEST CENTRAL TRIBUNE

WILLMAR — The Flags of Honor Veterans Memorial on Business 71 in Willmar is dedicated to remembering and honoring Willmar-area soldiers who have since died.

The site received an upgrade several years in the making in 2021, which included a brand-new memorial monument with bronze medallions depicting each of the five traditional armed forces.

A plaza around the monument comprises nearly 700 pavers inscribed with soldiers’ names, and new lighting and landscaping draw attention to three large flag poles flying the American, state and POW flags.

Macy Moore / West Central Tribune

Eight stone memorial benches surround a granite monolith in the center of the plaza. The stone is carved with the likeness of the American flag and on each side there is a plaque representing one of the five traditional armed forces — Army, Air Force, Marines, Navy and Coast Guard.

Shelby Lindrud / West Central Tribune

While the initial design called for the number of flagpoles to be reduced to 50, after viewing the the monument from above, thanks to a drone, the decision was made to keep all of the original poles, which fly casket flags from area military families on special days, as the poles seem to embrace the monument. The flags will be flown beginning Memorial Day weekend.

The project to revamp the memorial began in 2018, when the Veterans Central Council asked the City Council for permission to raise money for the updates to the site. The project was paid for entirely through donations and the sales of the inscribed stone pavers.

The site was unveiled in its new form on Sept. 11, 2021, the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers, World Trade Center and Pentagon.

For more information, or to purchase a paver, visit the Flags of Honor Facebook page at www.facebook.com/WillmarFlagsofHonor

Macy Moore / West Central Tribune

Macy Moore / West Central Tribune

Macy Moore / West Central Tribune

Macy Moore / West Central Tribune