Bayfield has a lovely cemetery on County Road 501, but one missing element is a veterans' memorial, according to local military veterans.
They're working to change that.
Members of American Legion Post 143 based in Bayfield have been fundraising and hope to have the memorial in place by Veterans Day on Nov. 11.
They have purchased a 20x20-foot plot on the east side of the cemetery that will hold a concrete pad, two benches and two granite stones. Behind the stones will be three flagpoles with the U.S., Prisoner of War and Colorado flags.
The memorial will honor all Pine River Valley veterans, from Vallecito to Ignacio, said Harold Johnson, one of the organizers of the memorial.
Also working on the effort is Joe Martinez, the secretary of the Legion post. Both are veterans of the Vietnam era. They have been attending Bayfield Block Parties and talking with service organizations and local businesses to elicit donations.
So far, the response has been positive, they said, raising more than $1,000 of the estimated $25,000 to $35,000 cost.
In-kind donations also are being accepted.
There are other memorials around, including a walkway in Greenmount Cemetery in Durango, as well as one honoring Vietnam veterans at the fire station on the Animas River in Durango.
Ignacio also has memorials to tribal veterans in the Southern Ute Tribe's Veterans Park.
The granite stones will be inscribed with the insignia of the six branches of the military.
Also on the memorial will be the following inscription:
"For all those who came before
For all those who are here today
And for all those yet to come"
Memorials are important because they provide a place for families - and the public - to remember those who served and all they have done for our country, Martinez said.
"Our community is growing," Johnson said.
"We also need to remember where we came from."
The Legion already has 268 crosses in the cemetery for veterans buried there, and their members and local Boy Scouts place American flags on the graves for Memorial Day every year.
The post has more than 20 members, and they estimate 12 to 15 of them are active.
A few members are finding it harder to attend the meetings as they age.
All local veterans are welcome at the meetings at 6 p.m. the second Tuesday of the month at the Bayfield Lions Club, they added.
Tax-deductible donations can be mailed to:
Veterans Memorial
PO Box 1215
Bayfield, CO 81122. More information about the post is at www.albayfieldpost143.com.
