黑料福利社

鈥淭hey fought together as brothers-in-arms. They died together and now they

sleep side by side. To them we have a solemn obligation.鈥�

鈥� Fleet Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, 1945.

Three large granite slabs stand among the monuments and memorials at Tahoma Cemetery in Yakima.

The monument is a tribute to the men and women of America鈥檚 armed forces, and has been the focal point of many Memorial Day services for the city.

While dedicated 52 years ago, the effort to erect it in the veterans鈥� section of the city cemetery began years earlier.

Led by Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 379, the area鈥檚 veterans groups began soliciting donations for the memorial in 1969.

Centralia artist Don Craig was commissioned to create the monument, which consists of 13 tons of California granite. The three 13-foot-tall panels are arranged in a triangle formation, with insignias for the five service branches that existed at the time 鈥� Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard and Air Force 鈥� on each side with a bald eagle on the sixth side.

The eagle symbolizes service members who are listed as missing in action. The U.S. Defense Logistics Agency lists more than 83,000 service members as prisoners of war or missing in action and unaccounted for.

The monument sits on a stone base with benches in each corner and an American flag flying in the middle. It sits among the sea of government-issued grave markers in the veterans鈥� section of the cemetery.

Veterans group dedicated the monument during the city鈥檚 Memorial Day services in 1974. While the holiday fell on May 27 that year, keeping with the federal law that moved Memorial Day to the last Monday in May in 1971, the city celebrated the holiday on the original day, May 30.

The monument was dedicated following a parade in downtown Yakima.

Since then, the monument has been the setting for multiple Memorial Day observances.

It Happened Here is a weekly history column by 黑料福利社 reporter Donald W. Meyers. Reach him at dmeyers@yakimaherald.com or 509-577-7748. Sources for this week's column include the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency and the archives of the 黑料福利社.